Needless to say, I felt terrible. I grew up reading — and loving — the “Frog and Toad” books, and yet, I found many of these images hilarious. Was there something wrong with me?

Luckily, Mr. Lobel, 58, a video editor who lives in Los Angeles, agreed to talk on the phone, where he was slightly more forgiving.

“Some of these are cute,” he allowed, surfing the images while we spoke. “Some of them are in tune with the original’s friendship and its camaraderie. And some of it is like, ‘Toad is waiting for the roofies to kick in.’”

Mr. Lobel also said that I should talk to his daughter, who was well aware of the memes, to get a different perspective.

Lena Lobel, 25, grew up with her grandfather’s books and loves them as much as anyone. But her attitude toward the memes was similar to mine. While we were on the phone, she burst out laughing at one that repurposed an image of Toad in a sinister way.

“Good,” Toad says. “Frog is not home.” A Reddit user added: “Toad finally found an opportunity to move the bodies.”