Cheap Tadpole (Book) (Ruth White) Price

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Customer Reviews of Tadpole

Kentucky Harmony-family, dreams & dealing with hard times
Ruth White's tale about the Collins family who lives in a small house in the Kentucky hills in 1955. The family makes up of four little girls Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia and Carolina and their Mama. Their daddy left them when Carolina was a baby. What little electricity they got in the house when they can pay the bill. Their idea of a good time is a trip to town for a hair-do and see one of those Hollywood movies. One day a young fellow by the name of Winston Churchill "Tadpole" Birch comes walking into their lives. He was named Tadpole after he took a dare to swallow a tadpole. Tad had ran away from abusive relatives and now comes to live with the Collins family. He has a talent for singing, playing guitar, he gets neighbors together for social events and gets free passes to the carnival.

The story is laid-back and the dialect is very Southern colloquial. The family are well-adjusted and go through remarkable changes inspite of hard times. They learn important lessons about closeness of family, what home is, keeping your dreams and dealing with child abuse. The story looks at the family in a warm and sensitive way with what little they do have, they have so much. They have each other and their dreams beyond the hills. In Carolina's case she find her special talent. The way she can harmonize with Tadpole's music. Parents who buy this book for younger children may want to consider the theme and content of the story. I think this should be for older children who can understand a very sensitive subject in this story. I find it a good story.