Tadpoles in a Jar

Part One · Black Dots

It rained all week long. Then Milo found a lump of jelly in a puddle. It was full of little black dots.

"Frog eggs," said his big sister, Ivy. "Every dot will turn into a tadpole." Milo wanted ten tadpoles right now.

Milo scooped the jelly into a big glass jar. He set it on his window shelf.

Then he waited and waited and waited. On Monday, nothing happened. On Tuesday, still nothing happened.

On Wednesday, a dot went wiggle! By Friday, there were ten tadpoles. Milo named them all.

There was Gus, Pip, Big Bob, Zip, and Spot. Ivy named the other five Dave. Milo said that was cheating.

The tadpoles ate green slime off the weeds. Every day they wiggled and got fatter. Big Bob got the fattest.

Then the sun came out day after day. The puddle in the field got smaller. Many tadpoles were stuck in the mud!

Milo and Ivy filled a bucket. They ran to the pond. Splash!

The tadpoles swam away. "Good luck!" called Milo. Back home, the jar had news.

Part Two · Back Legs First

Big Bob had grown back legs! He kicked like a tiny swimmer in shorts.

Next came the front legs. Every day, the tails got shorter. Zip was half tadpole and half frog.

Ivy called him a tadfrog. One morning, Pip climbed up a weed. His head was out of the water.

He gave Milo a look. It said, "This jar is too small." Milo knew it was true.

A frog needs mud, bugs, and a bank to climb. But Milo was not ready. "Just one more day," he said.

That night, Milo woke up. Something went plip, plip, plip in the dark. He looked at the jar.

It was empty! Milo grabbed his flashlight. A frog sat on the curtain.

Another was in the sink. One was in Dad's boot. One sat on the toaster, looking very proud.

Milo tiptoed all around the house. He found nine frogs. Where was the tenth?

Then Ivy sat up in bed. "Why is my head croaking?" she said. Big Bob had been asleep in her hair.

At dawn, Milo took all ten frogs to the pond. He tipped the jar. Ten tiny frogs swam into the reeds.

One June night, Milo and Ivy sat by the pond. The air was full of croaking.

A tiny frog hopped onto his boot. Was it Gus? Was it Big Bob?

Was it one of the Daves? There was no way to tell. "Hi, Dave," said Milo.