The spadefoot toad is the focus of the story, so she is the main character. As the story progresses, we meet other characters such as a woodpecker, a scorpion, and a kangaroo rat.
The desert is the setting. The book's words and illustrations help the reader imagine what it is like to be in the desert.
The problem is that the toad needs it to rain in order to lay her eggs. She waits and waits in her underground home for the sounds of raindrops above. A rattlesnake slithers by, but no rain. A kangaroo rat jumps overhead, but no rain.
The resolution is that it finally rains! The toad digs out of the ground and lays eggs in the water. These eggs will become more toads. And one day those toads will have to burrow underground as well.
