Catherine Bruton

About Author

Catherine Bruton, author of No Ballet Shoes in Syria, introduces her new book, Tadpole Summer, exploring themes of grief and transformation.

Catherine studied English at Oxford University and now juggles life as a teacher, children's author and mum. As an English teacher she sees first hand the impact stories can have on young readers, encouraging them to ask questions and see the world differently.

Her books tackle some of the big issues faced by young people today - terrorism, immigration, the cult of celebrity, the refugee crisis - in ways that are heart-breaking, often hilarious, but invariably hopeful.

Interview

May 2026

Catherine Burton introduces Tadpole Summer, a powerful story of grief and transformation set against a season of change

Frog, or Francis, adores her younger brother, Tad, who has a rare muscle-wasting condition. One summer, Tad, Frog and their neighbour Ari form the 'Wildlife Warriors', finding ways to support the nature in their back yard and the tadpoles in a nearby pond. As the tadpoles grow and transform, so do the children through the summer months in this story about grief and hope.

Author Catherine Bruton (No Ballet Shoes in Syria, Bird Boy) talks to ReadingZone about the children who inspired her to write her latest novel, Tadpole Summer (Nosy Crow), and about the transformational power of nature through the novel.

Q&A with Catherine Bruton: Exploring the themes of nature, grief and hope in Tadpole Summer

"It will be a summer of heartache, of letting go, of learning about loss and love. A summer filled
with magic in the natural world all around us."

1. Hello Catherine, thank you for joining us on ReadingZone. Can you start by telling us three things about yourself?

Thank you for having me on ReadingZone! Hmmm . . . let me think . . . Three things about me? Well, when I am not writing, I am also a teacher and my students are a constant source of inspiration (in fact, every single one of my Year 11 class feature in Tadpole Summer!) My first teaching job was in Africa, where I had scorpions in my classroom, puff-adders in my wardrobe, ate Mopani worms for breakfast, hitch-hiked on an airplane and danced with Nelson Mandela (yes, really!) Nowadays my life is a little less exciting, but I do love to go running, which is where I come up with my best ideas!

2. Which leads us onto your new novel, Tadpole Summer. What happens in this story?

Tadpole Summer is the story of 11-year-old Frog (short for Francis), whose little brother Tad was born with a rare muscle wasting condition called SMA-PME. Frog's always known that her brother was smaller, weaker, more fragile. She's always known it was her job to look after him. She always knew he wouldn't be around forever.

This story starts the day Tad is taken to hospital and Frog decides to start camping in the garden - just until Tad comes home. This is also the day she meets Ari, the strange little boy next door who dresses in a wild and wonderful array of clothes, has the biggest vocabulary of any child on the planet and never goes to school.

This will be a summer for the 'Wildlife Warriors' - a summer of making bug hotels, bee houses, hedgehog hibernariums, nests for dormice and slow worms, mud-puddling pools for birds, wildlife gardens for butterflies, and watching tadpoles grow into big strong frogs. Some of them anyway. It will also be a summer of heartache, of letting go, of learning about loss and love. A summer filled with magic in the natural world all around us. A summer none of them will ever forget.

3. The novel explores difficult themes of illness and bereavement, and is a an emotional read. Did this make it a hard novel to write?

Some stories are harder to write than others, and for me, Tadpole Summer was the hardest one ever! It was actually so difficult that I ended up handing it in nearly a year late, and nearly abandoned it several times. It definitely made me cry more than any book I've ever written, but in the end I am immensely proud of it, and I think it might be the best thing I've ever written.

I have asked myself why telling this particular story was so very difficult. And I think it's because of all the stories behind it, and all the children behind those stories to whom I wanted to do justice.

4. Can you tell us about the children or child who helped inspire your focus on the illness Spinal Muscular Atrophy in this novel?

It started with a boy I went to primary school with. Philip was the kid with the big smile, the wicked sense of humour, and the wobbly legs. He could draw amazing dinosaurs, but he held the pencil differently and he couldn't get up on the climbing frame and he kept falling over when he ran in the playground. You don't notice that stuff much as a kid, and even as the years passed and the rest of the class grew up, grew strong, grew tall (not very tall in my case!) while Philip grew weaker, his struggles greater, we still didn't think too much about it. Because Philip had a bright brilliant energy, a sunshine smile and ability to make you laugh till you couldn't breathe and snot came out of your nose (maybe that was just me!)

I knew that Philip was sick, that he wasn't going to get better. But I didn't really understand what that meant. Not at the time. I don't remember when he stopped coming to school. You don't pay enough attention as a kid. Even when I heard a few years later that he had died. The boy with the big smile seemed to disappear into an illness I couldn't really comprehend - an illness too frightening to think about.

Phillip's story is at the heart of mine, along with that of other children whose families helped me with this book. But it's also a story for all children coping with loss. So many young people experience loss in childhood - 1 in 20 children have experienced the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 16 - that's at least one in every classroom. And all the research shows that having a way to share and articulate difficult thoughts helps young people navigate grief.

Stories can help prepare children for loss and they can help them work through that pain. I see it first hand in my classroom. So this is a story about SMA-PME, but it's for all young people coping with life shortening conditions, and all those dealing with pain and grief.

5. Why did you decide to share the story through the eyes of Frog who helps care for Tad?

The siblings of a child with a chronic or terminal illness are sometimes called 'glass children'. Glass children carry invisible burdens. They often develop hyper-independence, learning to take care of themselves to avoid adding to parents' stress. They grow up learning to prioritize others' needs over their own; they often strive for perfectionism in order to be noticed.

As a teacher for nearly 30 years, I have taught many glass children. They show incredible resilience and display unbelievable compassion, but they can feel isolated and unseen, just as Frog does. I think I wrote this story for them. Because their voices, their emotions matter too. Their stories deserve to be told.

6. Who are the three children at the heart of the novel, siblings Tad and Frog, and their neighbour Ari?

Frog is the kindest big sister in the world, but she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She knows Mum and Dad are coping with so much, worrying about Tad, so she always has to be OK, to be strong, to look out for her little brother. It has made her isolated from her classmates, none of whom can really understand what Frog is going through. It's made it hard for her to talk about how she feels, or even let herself feel.

Her little brother Tad's arms and legs might be weak, but his smile is brighter and stronger than anyone Frog knows. Tad is the youngest of the trio, but definitely in charge of all the Wildlife Warrior activities, and if he only has one summer left, he's determined to make it magical for all of them!

Ari is the curious boy next door, who wears silk dresses and feather boas, space suits and pink cowboy boots, sometimes even ears - or a tail! Ari claims he can talk in Latin; he is taking his Maths A Level next year; he spouts facts and statistics about just about everything, but he never goes to school, never steps outside his front door. It turns out Ari's struggling with anxiety and EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance) and that he was bullied at his last school. Archimedes Reginald St John Feeney is unbelievably annoying, and utterly wonderful and I hope readers will fall in love with him just as Frog - reluctantly! - does!

7. How did the focus on tadpoles and frogs develop within the novel, and why did you want to make this a theme in the story?

Funnily enough, I knew the tadpoles always went hand in hand with Frog's story right from the start.

When I was little - and when my kids were little - we collected frogspawn every year, and I was always fascinated by the miracle of nature happening beneath my nose. There was something about how the tiny nimble swimming tadpoles spouted legs and transformed into miniature frogs. Taking them back to the pond at the end of the summer was always magical.

But not all of the tadpoles made it, and it enacted somehow the cruelty and randomness of nature. Why did some have legs that never developed, or shrivelled up and died? It links in my mind to the cruelty of Tad's illness - and I think Frog finds it a way to help understand loss and grief.

8. Did you go to a particular setting to explore the natural elements in this novel? Do you hope Tad and Frog's passion for wildlife will encourage others to support the creatures in their gardens?

Tadpole Summer, like my last book Bird Boy, explores the healing power of nature, but while Bird Boy was set in the beautiful remote mountain landscape of the Lake District, this story is about the natural world just outside your own front door, the creatures thriving below your bedroom window, in your local park, close enough for every child to reach out and touch.

As Wildlife Warriors, Tad, Frog and Ari find all sorts of cheap and cheerful ways to help the wildlife in their back yard - from bug hotels, to butterfly mud-puddling pools, bee houses, dormice dormitories and much more. I really hope it will inspire young readers to have a go at those things too.

9. You also explore how nature can support children's mental health, especially those suffering from anxiety like Tad and Ari. Why did you want to bring this into the story?

Tadpole Summer is a story of heartbreak, but it is also a story of magic and love and the healing power of nature. There is incredible work using nature therapy, 'green prescription groups' and 'ecotherapy' , forest schools and nature-based activities to help children struggling with anxiety, EBSA, grief or trauma.

Research shows that engagement with nature, which includes reading stories about nature, generates calmness, joy, creativity and helps emotional healing, so I hope this story brings some of that joy and maybe even encourages readers to step out into the green spaces near them and look out for the magic of nature all around them.

10. Did you spend a lot of time in nature when writing this novel? Where do you most enjoy writing, and what are you writing at the moment? For readers who enjoy Tadpole Summer, which of your other books might they also enjoy?

I love going running around the woods and rivers and fields near to my home, but I'm not very good at running to be honest, so there's a lot of stopping to look at ponds and trees and riverbanks (all in the name of research, you understand!)

But I do go out in all winds and weathers, spring, summer, winter and fall, come rain or shine, and I love seeing how the familiar footpaths and fields and woodlands change over the seasons, and spotting new flora, fauna and wildlife. I recently took a huge tumble after spotting an otter while on an early morning run - which resulted in a split lip and bleeding knees - but it was totally worth it!

I am currently working on a book about otters (hence the otter-running-tumble excitement!) It doesn't have a name yet but it features a boy with ADHD and PDA who is determined to save his local river - and the creatures who live in it - from pollution. And my next Middle Gradestory called Finding Zini is about a dog who makes an epic journey across war torn Ukraine to be reunited with his boy.

Readers who enjoy Tadpole Summer will probably also enjoy Bird Boy - about a grieving boy and an injured bird; and No Ballet Shoes in Syria - about a young refugee from Syria who dreams of being a dancer.

Creative Challenge from Catherine Bruton:

Tadpole Summer is a story of growing up and the changing seasons, so your challenge is to think of a wild creature - it can be bird, an insect, a mammal, a fish, maybe even a tadpole! - and to tell the story of its first year of life - from chick/ frog/ egg/ larvae/ newborn cub . . . to fully grown adult.

You could start your story in spring time when you are tiny and first exploring your world - what do you see around you? What do you think of your new habitat? What can you do/ not do yet? In summer you grow more adventurous and venture further afield. Perhaps you make new friends. Encounter predators. Discover danger… With Autumn new challenges come, as food grows scarce and the nights draw in. How has your world changed? How have you changed? What has happened to your family? The rest of your kind? When Winter comes do have to fight to survive, or do you fly to warmer climes, or bury yourself underground to escape the cold? Finally, Spring comes round again and your creature goes back to where it all began, older and wiser now. How have you changed? Do you bear any scars? Are you stronger? Wiser? Do you see the world differently? What have you learned, about yourself, about the world around you?

All the best stories send their characters on journeys and trace how they change and transform. Can you write a transformation tale of your own, and show us the natural world through new eyes.

Arranging a School Visit by Catherine Bruton:

I love school visits and I particularly enjoy running writing workshops, inspiring young writers of all ages, stages and abilities to find their voices. I can also do assembly style events or Q and A's, both live and online. The best way to arrange a visit is through Authors Aloud Catherine Bruton | Authors Aloud

Catherine Bruton introduces her earlier book, Bird Boy (Nosy Crow)

Catherine Bruton's debut, No Ballet Shoes in Syria, won plaudits for its sensitive and truthful exploration of a child refugee from Syria building a new life in the UK. In Bird Boy, Catherine returns to the theme of adjusting to a new life as well as exploring how trauma and change can affect young people - and the power of nature and of stories to help them heal.

Find out more about Bird Boy in ReadingZone's Q&A with the author, and watch Catherine introduce the book in this short video.

Review: "An incredibly powerful, beautifully executed story" Read a Chapter from Bird Boy

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