Jennifer Murdley's Toad

It’s exceptionally difficult to weave a tale that illustrates that it’s inner beauty — not outer — that’s important, but Bruce Coville rises to the challenge.

In this third book in his Magic Shop series, Jennifer Murdley — plain-faced, beady-eyed, heavy-set — laments her looks and the bullying she receives at the hands of pretty, blonde Sharra Moncrief. Could magic be the answer?

Jennifer Murdley’s Toad boasts several twists — and the promise of sequels! In addition, without lecturing nor a sugarcoated ending, Coville masterly weaves a story that’s as amusing and enlightening for adults as for children. Congratulations, Bruce, for a fabulous read for all ages!

This book is about a plain girl named Jennifer Murdley who buys a magical talking toad from a mysterious vanishing magic store. The toad, named Bufo, cannot hold his tongue and before Jennifer knows it, she is in a big mess of trouble. Bufo makes the mistake of kissing one of Jennifer’s classmates unaware that if the change lasts more than 10 hours it is permanent. While alternating being toad and human, Jennifer discovers that a beautiful witch is after Bufo. Bufo reveals that the witch is essentially his mother and she is seeking the jewel imbedded in his forehead so that she can have “perfect happiness”. In the end, the witch is defeated and Bufo is safe.

I hadn’t read this book since the 3rd grade so it was very different show more reading it as an adult. I thought the story line was very clever and the details were vivid enough to get lost in. I also enjoyed the full-page illustrations scattered throughout the book. The theme of the book was good. I liked the idea that being a beautiful person on the inside will always be better than just being beautiful on the outside. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. The class can do a study on the lifecycle of the toad or the frog. They can do research and write reports to present to the class. If the teacher is able to get ahold of some tadpoles to bring to school, the class can watch as the tadpole metamorphoses.
2. At the end of the story, Jennifer is given 2 rats by the man in the magic shop to look after. The class can write some stories predicting what will happen next. They can write their predictions in the form of a book and make illustrations to go with their stories. The teacher can bind them and put them in the book area. show less

In my opinion, this is the best of the Magic Shop books. A reworking of a classic fairy tale, it deals with issues of self-image, and cultural standards of beauty, and it is just plain fun. Great children's/YA book.

Jennifer Murdley's Toad is part of Bruce Coville's Magic Shop series. As with the other books in the series, a young protagonist comes across the Magic Shop and is given a magical gift that turns out to require them to become more than they had been to that point. In this book, the protagonist is a plain looking girl named Jennifer Murdley, and her magical gift is a talking toad named Bufo.

Jennifer is not an attractive girl, and is self-conscious about her appearance - wishing she were blonde and pretty. She is picked on by the popular, pretty girls, and finds herself in an unfamiliar alley with a magic shop. Inside, the odd proprietor sells her what turns out to be Bufo, the talking toad, for a pittance. As might be expected, Jennifer show more does not consider a talking toad to be something that will improve her position among her peers, and to make matters worse, Bufo is demanding and difficult.

Things go from bad to worse, as Jennifer discovers that a witch is after Bufo, a transforming curse affects Jennifer and her friends, and it proves difficult to keep her talking toad a secret from her brothers and others. Jennifer must assume greater responsibility protecting both her toad and those around her, and must come to grips with her own insecurities.

The tale is basically a story about Jennifer growing up, and realizing that what she wants may not actually be something that is all that important. The story is told in a light-hearted humorous manner, although the villain is treated reasonably seriously, as Coville deftly avoids having her end up as a joke. Although the story is at times predictable, I was caught by surprise by the ending, although in retrospect all of the clues pointing towards the ending were embedded in the plot. Overall, this is a fun little book, well-suited to younger readers, with equal parts humor and adventure well-worth the time spent reading it.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. show less

This a good chapter book about a girl named Jennifer who believes she is ugly and cannot make friends. She wants a pet, so she buys a toad named Bufo. This toad had hatched many years before from the mouth of a witch who spewed out frogs, snakes, and other nasty items. He has spend his recent life looking for his lost love, another toad, He naturally helps Jennifer see her inner self and beauty. In the process, she, her brother, and a school enemy are all turned into toads. Meanwhile, the witch is out to find Bufo. It all gets somewhat confusing, but an adult steps in and it all turns out for the best. I really enjoyed this book and it really kept me on my toes wondering what was going to happen next!

I read this book a long time ago as a kid, so I will admit there's not a lot of details I remember, but the one thing that always stuck in my head was the scene where it's revealed where the toad came from. It was a fun spin off/sorta modern-day sequel of the old fairy tale 'Toads and Diamonds' (though this tale has several other titles, depending on where you hear it from)

It was a fun read as a kid.

This was the first book I read in this series and it remains my favorite. Bufo the toad is one of my favorite characters ever. I love him.