Customer Reviews

One Tiny Turtle: Read and Wonder

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This interesting book explains to children the basic life cycle of a loggerhead sea turtle. The book opens with a brief introduction explaining that a sea turtle is related to tortoises and terrapins, but they are different types of animals. After the one-page introduction, the actual story begins. We follow the life cycle of a sea turtle called Loggerhead from the time she is a small turtle living and hiding in sea weeds and drift wood to the time Loggerhead swims to the mating beaches to mate and lay her eggs. The last pages of the book include a brief index that can help teach children what an index is and how to use it. ONE TINY TURTLE is a great reading science book for young children. It's very factual and realistic in displaying and describing what we know of the life of a sea turtle (for instance, after the eggs are hatched, it makes it clear that only a few baby turtles ever make it to the ocean and the rest are eaten by crabs and birds). Highly recommended, especially for anyone who likes turtles.

There is so much information packed into this work that it is difficult to imagine how the author and illustrator pulled it off. This is the story of the life cycle of the loggerhead turtle. The illustrations are beautiful and actually quite accurate. The text is simple and very, very well done. It follows the illustrations perfectly and is just overflowing with good information. This book, while great for kids to read on their own (this is one of the more used books in our school library), it is also great to read to the class as a whole as it never fails to bring on good questions and good discussions (better know your turtles when faces with a bunch of third graders).

I looked up the word "lyrical" to make sure I was using it correctly in my alliterative title. One of the definitions conveyed exactly what I was going for: expressing deep emotion. Davies has somehow taken a simple children's book, brimming with facts and details of the lifecycle of a loggerhead turtle, and turned it into an emotion filled, heart-tugging inspirational story.

Instead of a baby talk primer, this book inspires true literacy with verses like:

"Floating in the sea she weighs nothing, but on land she's heavier than a man. So every flipper step is a struggle, and her eyes stream with salty tears, which help keep them free of sand." WOW - What a beautiful way to convey information.

I like this story because it tells me a lot about loggerhead turtles. My favorite part about the story is the interesting fact that turtles cry. I never knew that! Turtles lay one to ten eggs, but at least five live. I learned that. They lay their eggs at night. I like this book because it is a wonderful story about turtles and I think everyone should read it.

I bought this book as a part of a homeschool curriculum (organic homeschooling) and was so pleased when it arrived. The illustrations are exquisite, the language is lyrical and flowing, and the information contained is so wonderfully interesting. My 2-10yo sat transfixed as I read it to them. Then they went off to draw turtles and lament about all the nasty birds eating the babies :) I'll definitely be buying more book from this series.

One Tiny Turtle is about a little Loggerhead Turtle that started as a baby and then became an adult. I like this book because he started as a little baby and then he grew up. This book is a little funny. If you like turtles or reptiles you should read this book!

I purchased this book for our grandchildren who were fortunate enough to see baby loggerheads hatch on the beach at Hilton Head this summer. Knowing it might be a once in a lifetime experience, I wanted them to have a rememberance of the event. This book's lovely illustrations and informative story line did just that. It gave all of us a chance to relive the turtle's life story and learn some new facts about loggerheads as we read the book together.

"Far, far out to sea, land is only a memory, and empty sky touches the water. Just beneath the surface is a tangle of weed and driftwood where tiny creatures cling. This is the nursery of a sea turtle" (p. 1-2).

Nicola Davies story of the life of the loggerhead sea turtle, combined with the outstanding illustrations of Jane Chapman, make this an entertaining book on sea turtles for children ages 3-7. The larger text focuses on the story of survival of one loggerhead, while smaller text provides more detailed information. The hardcover book is quite large, making it a great book for holding open and reading to a group of children.

This is one of the nicer books for very young people on sea turtles.

Minor issues:

"Sea turtles are great wanderers, traveling thousands of miles each year, often far from land." Many subadult and adult sea turtles go through periods where they just "hunker down" in their foraging and resting areas. The grand travels tend to be restricted to the times they visit their nesting areas (every 2-4 years) and when they are still growing in those first few "lost years" of pelagic foraging. Leatherbacks, of course, are a real exception, since they always seem to be traveling.

"Not much bigger than a bottle top..." (p. 8). Actually, a hatched loggerhead is never the size of a bottle top, and a growing loggerhead is much bigger. I think a better size reference could have been used here.

"Coming ashore is very risky for sea turtles - they can easily overheat and die. So they only nest at night or in cool weather" (p. 21). I agree coming ashore is risky. But the most important reason is probably avoidance of predation.

Hey, you can't cram everything into a book for young children! I'll use this one in the classroom.

We received One Tiny Turtle as part of an "undersea pack" assortment of books from Scholastic, and I wasn't prepared for what an excellent book it turns out to be. Packed with information about the lifecycle of loggerhead turtles, One Tiny Turtle is also graced with lush, dreamy paintings of the loggerhead's undersea world. The text is lyrical and challenging to my young reader ("pinprick nostrils" is one phrase that stood out), but clear and easy for her to follow. It's somewhere between a standard "kids read and find out" book and the kind of thoughtful nature writing you expect from the likes of Rachel Carson -- on a level that works well for kindergarten and young-elementary students.

Highly recommended!

Very timely shipment and the book was in condition as stated. I will definitely be buying from this person again. Thank you