Mr. Merlin and the Turtle [Hardcover]

Seymour Chwast (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1996 | Age Level: 3 and up

In this interactive and absorbing fold-out book, Mr. Merlin turns his pet turtle into a monkey . . . and a camel . . . and an elephant--but first he needs help! Young readers can be magicians, too, by turning the fold-out pages to reveal the wonderful tricks and transformations of Mr. Merlin's turtle. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A pet turtle may be on the boring side, but as Merlin the magician and Mrs. Merlin find out in this clever lift-the-flap volume, it sure beats the alternatives. Merlin uses his powers to turn the turtle into a progression of increasingly large? and damage-prone?creatures. First the turtle becomes a bird (which flies out of reach), then a monkey (which wreaks havoc astride a bike) and so on. By the penultimate sequence, the pet is an elephant, and when it swoops up a frightened Mrs. Merlin in its trunk, Merlin can stand it no more and transforms the creature back into the slow but low-maintenance turtle. Each new animal is partially hidden behind a flap featuring the creature to be zapped. When the monkey's flap is flipped, for example, its legs stay behind to become those of the camel. Chwast (The Twelve Circus Rings) employs pen and ink and color film to produce a densely saturated, almost animated effect. Merlin still sports a flowing robe and a star-studded cone-shaped hat, but his incongruous bourgeois lifestyle (a wife, home, front yard, etc.) further heightens the silliness, keeping readers firmly under his spell. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS?Mr. and Mrs. Merlin have a boring pet turtle, so, using his magical powers, Mr. Merlin turns the turtle into a bird, the bird into a monkey, the monkey into a camel, the camel into an elephant, which is then transformed into a nice, quite, and carefully contained pet?a turtle. The pictures have appeal because of the simple, childlike art reminiscent of ColorformsTM. Shapes are bright and distinctly outlined and each one is given plenty of space on each double-page spread. Flaps and fold-out pages reveal the animals in their new incarnations. Those pages are stark white, so all attention is focused on the novelty movement. Pre-readers will anticipate the magical changes?and note that the elephant is oddly shaped and much too thin, but the call to "read it again" will also be heard.?Kathy East, Wood County District Public Library, OH
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow; 1st edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688146325
• ISBN-13: 978-0688146320
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,412,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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