The virtuoso Moreau invites readers to change their relationship to the living world and join the resistance—just like his brave toad!

Suddenly, a roaring din rends the dusk in two. When silence returns, a toad finds itself lying on the asphalt. Summoning its last ounces of strength, it carries its rosary of eggs to the saving waters of the pond—and from the single unharmed egg is born an orphan polliwog: Alyte is a survivor. But as soon as he’s born, he must learn to fight, dodging birds, bears, and other riparian deities. They will each tell him about the world in their own way, awakening him to its beauty.