First and foremost, I wrote these books so I might leave a legacy to my family. I wrote the book series, "Toado and Friends," over the last 30 years. The books are based on my children and their childhood friends, in a pond setting. Toado is based on my son, Todd, and Polly is his little sister, Mandi. Each book provides an adventure with the pond friends while providing them with a valuable learning experience. Toado always knows the answer but needs the wise old Turtle, Captain Snap, to put the final spin on things. Polly is his cute, little polliwog sister who is always full of innocent questions. Book 1 introduces the characters and teaches a little lesson to always be aware of your surroundings. Toado's very best friend is Buddy; a multi colored butterfly. Sally and Mandy are salamanders and are very best friends. Other friends are; Scout, the humorous and hyper little dragon fly, Lucky, the tattletale goldfish and Ick, the scholarly inch worm. In each book there are also hidden tributes to little Travis, Todd and Mandi's baby brother, who died at age 41/2 months. The hidden tributes to Travis are in the writing or the illustrations. Everyone will have fun trying to figure out where each tribute is. To add more interest, each picture is colored by children, friends, and family members. Children love to look at other child's coloring. The first book in the series is colored by family members. Other books in the series have a blank picture for the reader to color and personalize their own book.