From Publishers Weekly
Davies's (Bat Loves the Night) dramatic rendering of the life cycle of the Loggerhead turtle draws readers into the mysteries of this reclusive deep-sea creature, while Chapman's (The Emperor's Egg) aqua-tinted full-spread illustrations bring the ocean world to life in all its majestic beauty. Loggerhead swims alone in the vastness of the water, munches on crabs, floats over coral reefs and crawls with slow, heavy steps across the beach to lay her eggs. The text addresses readers directly, while seamlessly weaving facts into the story: "For thirty years you might not find her./ Then one summer night she arrives,/ on the beach where she was born." Additional details deliberately placed outside the story in a smaller font and wavy typeset may confuse youngsters at first, but overall, the informative text flows with poetic grace: "Just beneath the surface/ is a tangle of weed and driftwood/ where tiny creatures cling./ This is the nursery of a sea turtle." Aspiring scientists may also wonder how the newborn turtles find their way from the shore to these "nurseries," but the author gives them much to mull over. By the time Loggerhead's hatchlings race for their lives across the beach, under threat of attack, readers will be emotionally invested in their plight--a sure sign of the accomplished storytelling. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 2-This nicely developed picture-book introduction to the loggerhead turtle sketches the life experiences of a typical female through text and broad acrylic views. The author exhibits a flair for alliteration and imagery in her descriptive narrative about this sea animal: "Just beneath the surface is a tangle of weed and driftwood where tiny creatures cling. This is the nursery of a sea turtle." Several pages follow the creature's early period and departure for the larger sea, and then the years of growth and travel are skimmed until her eventual return to the beach of her birth to lay her own eggs. On many pages curving lines of smaller type add bits of explanation, augmenting the story line. The double-spread paintings, occasionally alternating with smaller pictures set on aqua pages, focus on the turtle, with a few water plants suggesting underwater detail. A fine bed of blue crabs on which the turtle feasts is the only view of other animals sharing the ocean habitat until a concluding beach scenario where gulls and crabs threaten the newly hatched turtles who are starting the cycle anew. A very brief introduction identifies this turtle as a loggerhead. Gail Gibbons's Sea Turtles (Holiday, 1995) and Brenda Guiberson's Into the Sea (Holt, l995) offer young readers more information on this interesting animal. Broadly sketched in good language and pictures for read-aloud sharing, Davies's title will be enjoyed as a glimpse into the ways of the remarkable giant sea turtles.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
