Sea turtles face many dangers as they grown, eat, travel, and breed. In this dramatization of one female turtle's challenges, acclaimed nature writer April Pulley Sayre highlights the role that humans have in helping this endangered species.
March 1, 2010
K-Gr 2-Dangers threaten the survival of sea turtles at every stage of their lives. In this newly illustrated version of a 2000 book of the same title, beautiful pictures in watercolor, gouache, and pastels illustrate many of these risky situations, and the narrative describes how people are working to minimize these threats. The title is repeated on many of the double-page descriptions: a new hatchling is attracted to the porch light"Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! Small hands switch off the light," so that the baby turtle changes direction away from the house and toward the moonlight on the water. Other dangers are naturalthe night herons and raccoons alert to the scrambling hatchlings, hungry fish awaiting the tiny babies tumbling in the currents. People's life-saving actions are described or shown, e.g., reaching out of a boat into the water to retrieve a plastic bag that could choke a feeding turtle. The illustrations are soft-toned but dramatically interpret such dangers as the looming cat on the beach, menacing sharks, and confining fishing nets. A two-page description of how people throughout the world are helping the seven endangered species of sea turtles survive and the thumbnail sketches of these species provide background. A good read-aloud or read-along choice for environmental awareness."Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA"
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2010
Very few sea turtles survive to adulthood. This book's turtle is one of the fortunate ones, thanks to the assistance of volunteers who protect turtle nests and keep hatchlings safe. Readers will be drawn in by Turtle's newborn awkwardness, captured adroitly by Patterson's new softly colored realistic illustrations, and will rally to the cause through the text's repeated use of the title warning.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
May 1, 2010
Very few sea turtles survive to adulthood, given the risks to them as eggs on the beach, as new hatchlings in their first trek toward the waves, and as ocean-dwellers swimming amongst predators and humans' garbage. This turtle is one of the fortunate ones, thanks to the assistance of concerned humans, whose actions introduce readers to the coastal volunteers who protect turtle nests and keep hatchlings safe on their first walk to the sea. Readers will be drawn in by Turtle's newborn awkwardness, captured adroitly by Patterson's softly colored realistic illustrations, and will rally to her cause through the text's repeated use of the title warning at the appearance of each threat. Turtle soldiers on through a world of grainy gray-blues at the nighttime beach and the light-filtered green-blue of the ocean, matures into a graceful adult who finds a mate, then returns to her birth beach to lay her own eggs. Appended is information about the seven species of sea turtle (all rare and in danger of extinction) and worldwide conservation efforts to help them.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)