Where I Was Before I Was a Tadpole

This is metaphysics and theology for kids!  This book aimed at ages 6-12, could be of the recently trendy “adult books for kids” or “kid books for adults” like “Why Am I Here?” (Christian) and “Go the F**k to Sleep” (Liberal).  This story basically asks the reader to think about your purpose, and what to do if you’re feeling purpose-less (It ends heartfelt).  The book may appear to be Christian, although I wanted to appeal to all religious backgrounds, while also referencing Evolution, the Big Bang, and Fractals, as I think the promotion of a science-religion marriage is unique in children’s books, or any book for that matter.  I hope to introduce to children a feeling of interconnectedness with nature.

Where I Was Before I Was a Tadpole

Once there was a thoughtful, little tadpole that suddenly stopped swimming.  He realized that he had forgotten something! 


“Where was I before I was a tadpole?” he asked to his mother.  Baby Tadpole thought maybe he popped up, out of nowhere, on accident!


“Well,” said Mama Frog, “In the beginning, you and your family lived in one little egg sack that came from inside of your mother, and I put the little egg sack inside of a log.  Then came the day you hatched from the sack, and all of your brothers and sisters swam to all the different parts of the pond!”
“Do you remember that day?” asked Mama Frog.


“I remember some of it,” said Baby Tadpole.  “But NO, I mean before that, Mama!  Where was I before I was an egg in a log? 
Was I nothing?  I must have been somewhere doing something!”


“OH!” said Mama Frog, “Well if you don’t remember, maybe that’s what you have to do now—learn what tadpoles do and how!  You see, no one is ever hatched on accident.  You hatched so you can do nice things for yourself and your Family, and you must learn ALL the lessons the world is waiting for you to learn.  After that, if you always remember, everyone can go back to the most beautiful stars in the heavens, all together.”


Baby Tadpole knew that he must go out into the world and learn about himself now, but he was confused by his mother.  “What are the stars in the heavens anyhow?”


“Let me tell you a story,” said Mama Frog.  “Did you know that everything from the rocks to the trees—and even our own bodies—are made out of the same stuff, and it comes from the stars?”


“How can that be?” asked Baby Tadpole.  “The stars are so far from you and from me!”


“Well,” explained Mama Frog, “In the beginning, everyone and everything in the whole Universe lived inside of one little star, just like how all of your brothers and sisters lived inside of one little sack.  And this little star wanted to make…

THE BIGGEST EXPLOSION THERE EVER WAS, sending trillions and trillions of stars all over the sky, and they would go very far!” 


“That reminds me of the day my brothers and sisters swam to all the different parts of the pond!” said Baby Tadpole who was ever-so fond.  “But why did the little star want to explode like that and go very far?” 


“The star exploded to become a bunch of different things and learn ALL the lessons the world was waiting to teach: like how it feels to be a camel in the desert, so hot and so sandy, or how it feels to be a penguin in the snow, so cold and so shivery, or how it feels to be a tadpole in the pond, so wet and so slippery.”


Baby Tadpole thought it was the BIGGEST lesson he learned so far, that everyone lived inside of a star.  And he said to his mother who is never too far “This must mean that everyone in the world is one, big Family!” 
Baby Tadpole was SO happy to have learned this about himself.


So the baby tadpole grew up doing nice things for each of the different kinds of animals living in his new Family, and he grew up learning ALL the lessons the world was waiting for him to learn…


He learned that giraffes grow long necks to reach food on the tops of trees, and he learned that chameleons change colors to hide from bigger animals.
He learned that tadpoles grow arms and legs, and lose their tails, as it is planned, so that they can one day leave the pond and walk around on land! 
Baby Tadpole was SO happy to have learned this about himself.


Then it happened. 
Baby Tadpole grew legs… then he grew arms… and then he lost his tail…


He knew growing up can be scary sometimes; but Baby Tadpole wasn’t scared, because he already knew what was going to happen.
He knew that he was no longer a baby or a tadpole, living in the pond by a log.  Baby Tadpole became a Frog!


Frog was the most excited frog in the whole world the first time he crawled from the pond to the bog and from the sand to the land!  He tried his best at all he could do and anything that was new.  Frog felt like everything he did was for all, and he felt like all everyone did was for Frog.


But for a moment, Frog got scared, because he learned how the land is so big compared to the pond.  He got scared thinking about what might happen or where he might go…


The thoughtful frog sat in the sand on the land, beside the bog and the log and the pond, looking up at just one star that seemed so far...  He looked up into the shimmering, shining, night sky filled with trillions and trillions of stars, and then he remembered from his mother.


After I do nice things for my Family, after I become a bunch of different things and learn ALL the lessons the world is waiting for me to learn, and if I can always remember, everyone can go back to the most beautiful stars in the heavens, all together.
Frog was SO happy to have learned this about himself.



[The End]