Customer Reviews

The FOOLISH TORTOISE (Pixies ; #25)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This cute story is about a tortoise that decides one day that he is tired of being slow. He takes off his shell, and starts off. Soon he discovers that he misses his shell for all the things it provided him: shelter, shade, and safety. He realizes too that he will never be fast, and when he finally finds his shell again, he gladly climbs back inside.

This story is told wonderfully, and in rhyme as well. The words flow well, and are fun to read out loud. The illustrations are Eric Carle's customary well-done collages. The cute story well told and with such fun illustrations makes for a great book.

Loggie-log-log-log

The Foolish Tortoise was a very good book, I love Eric Carle's work. The pictures were marvelous. I won't give away the ending but he leaves his shell to travel to places he could never go before, but he's still not as fast as a horse, so he gets kind of depressed. He also finds trouble and he can't hide in his shell, so he find shelter behind rocks and tree, etc. He gets cold and has no heat. He walks around looking for his shell, does he find it? Get the book to find out.

I was so happy to find this book, as I love Eric Carle's illustrations but don't care for his writing in most cases. Thank goodness for Richard Buckley and his entertaining story about the foolish tortoise. The rhyming text is great for the ears, and the images are beautiful.

Another thing I like about this book is that it is meatier than most board books-- i.e., more pages and more text on each 2-page spread. Therefore, it will be a story that I read to my son for a few years to come.

So what is the moral of this story exactly? If you don't stay in your shell where it's safe and slow you will suffer and be miserable and abused until you get back in there where you belong. If you'd like to teach your child to be afraid and to eschew even slight ambition then this is the book you need. Someone gave it to my little boys, along with several other Eric Carle books that were a tad vapid, but fairly innocuous. This was the only one I felt compelled to throw away so I could be sure I was not responsible for some poor kid picking it up at the thrift store.

Directed to the lower elementary grade levels, The Foolish Tortoise is a great picture book that empowers children to venture out. In The Foolish Tortoise, a tortoise decides to leave his shell and see what he might be missing out on by being trapped in his heavy shell. Because his shell slows him down with weight, he takes off into exploration. He is off for an adventure that children adore and can possibly relate to.

The colors are perfect. Dark greens, subtle reds, grey-blues, and luminescence yellows promote a mixture of emotion from each illustration. The climax of the story makes any reader want to help the silly tortoise get back to where he truly belongs.

As an elementary teacher, this book is great for the young learners and their imaginations. In the kindergarten classroom, I first introduced the stuffed animal version of the tortoise (found at Kohl's at a really great price) and asked the students if they have ever read the book, or seen a real tortoise in person. The students each held the tortoise, but at each rhyming word they heard as I read aloud, they were to pass the stuffed tortoise it to a peer. This way the students were engaged in listening for words that rhymed, touching something for students that are kinesthetic learners, and paying attention for comprehension. I believe you could definitely even use The Foolish Tortoise for upper grade levels to help with vocabulary, rhyming, comprehension, or imagination of what may come later.

Unlike the annoyingly stupid Brown Bear, etc., this book is easy on the parent's nerves. I can read it over and over.