Lucille Lost: A True Adventure [Hardcover]

Margaret George (Author), Chris Murphy (Author), Bob Dacey (Illustrator), Debra Bandelin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Lucille, a pet Burmese tortoise, has found a way out of her safe pen. Now she’ll have the adventure she’s always wanted! After meeting a nice, old tortoise, and a not-so-nice snapping turtle in a nearby forest, Lucille discovers that adventure can be more scary than fun. And little does she know but her human family is heartbroken she is missing and has organized a neighborhood search.Will they ever find her?

Based on true events, this charming story is complemented by interesting tortoise facts and gorgeous illustrations that fill the pages with playful details from a tortoise’s point of view.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3–When a tortoise's owners go on vacation, the reptile takes the opportunity to slip away from her substitute caregivers and have an adventure. Exploring the woods is grand–until Lucille has a scary run-in with a snapping turtle and can't find her way home. Luminous paintings capture the wonder of the natural world. Counteracting the considerable anthropomorphism, Tortoise Facts appear at the bottom of many of the book's pages, offering real information about habitats, diet, and physiology. A low-key additional purchase.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. While their owners go on vacation, pet tortoises Lucille and Tanky are taken to another family's home. After Lucille, a Burmese elongated tortoise, becomes separated from the group, a well-meaning bicyclist snatches her and takes her to a pond, thinking she is a wild turtle seeking water. Lucille experiences a scary evening confronting the creatures of a midwestern pond and forest before she is rescued and brought back to her pen. Lucille is a thoroughly anthropomorphized tortoise; she even recognizes herself on a poster advertising her missing status. Her human thoughts and dialogue may not attract children as much as the realistic, colorful illustrations; the close-up of a snapping turtle with a half-devoured fish in its claws is particularly striking. The dramatic images may lure many children to the book and encourage them to empathize with Lucille's plight. Along the way, children will also learn many tortoise facts, which are included as extra text on the bottom of each page. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670060933
• ISBN-13: 978-0670060931
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret George specializes in epic fictional biographies of historical figures, taking pains to make them as factually accurate as possible without compromising the drama. Her THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII will have its 25th anniversary this September, and continues to be popular. ABC-TV based its 1999 Emmy-nominated "Cleopatra" miniseries on her THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA. All of her books have been bestsellers, with twenty-one foreign translations.

Margaret's father was in the Foreign Service and so she lived overseas for her early life, in such different places as tropical Taiwan, desert Israel, and cold war Berlin, all of which were great training for a novelist to be. She started writing 'books' about the same time as she could write at all, mainly for her own entertainment. It was a diversion she never outgrew. Her published works are: THE AUTOBIOGAPHY OF HENRY VIII, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES, THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA, MARY CALLED MAGDALENE, HELEN OF TROY, ELIZABETH I, and an illustrated children's book, LUCILLE LOST.

Margaret lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington DC, and has a sextagenarian tortoise as a pet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucille Lost - Exceptional book, November 9, 2006

By 

M. L. Manchester "MLM" (Whitesboro, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lucille Lost: A True Adventure (Hardcover)

This was a wonderful book, I enjoyed it very much.

The illustrations were awesome!!!

What was very unique about this story is how the author (s) gave " Tortoise Facts" on the bottom of the pages, very impressive.

Lovely, Lovely book.

I would recommend you to read this book no matter what age you may be!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good story, lots of tortoise facts, beautiful illustrations - WOW!, May 14, 2009

By 

P. Smith (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lucille Lost: A True Adventure (Hardcover)

I gave to my third-grader for Easter because he recently got a tortoise as a pet. This is the story of Lucille, a Burmese tortoise whose family goes on vacation. Lucille and her tortoise friend Tanky go to stay with another family and their tortoise, Troilus. Lucille escapes from the tortoise pen and gets lost.

Not only does the book have beautiful illustrations, it is filled with great tortoise facts on the bottom of each page. And even though I didn't realize it when I bought the book, it was set in Madison, WI (which is where we live) so that made it even more interesting for my son!

Margaret George is the best-selling author of several historical fiction novels including The Autobiography of Henry the VIII. Lucille Lost is her first and so far only children's book. I hope there will be more.