One Tiny Turtle: Read and Wonder

by Nicola Davies, Jane Chapman (Illustrator)

Overview

"Simple, lyrical words and bright, acrylic doublepage pictures convey the astonishing facts about the loggerhead sea turtle. . . . A powerful nature story for a young audience." — Booklist

Far, far out at sea lives one of the world's most mysterious creatures, the loggerhead turtle. For thirty years she swims the oceans, wandering thousands of miles as she searches for food. Then, one summer night, she lands on a beach to lay her eggs — the very same beach where she herself was born. Nicola Davies's lyrical text offers fascinating information about the journey of the tiny, endangered loggerhead, while charming paintings by Jane Chapman vividly illustrate one turtle's odyssey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763623111
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/14/2005
Series:	Read and Wonder
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	138,277
Product dimensions:	7.64(w) x 9.76(h) x 0.14(d)
Lexile:	AD650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Nicola Davies has loved sea turtles ever since she first saw one in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Nicola Davies is also the author of BIG BLUE WHALE, BAT LOVES THE NIGHT, and WILD ABOUT DOLPHINS.

Jane Chapman also loves sea turtles and has wanted to paint them for ages. Her other books for children include ONE DUCK STUCK by Phyllis Root and THE EMPEROR'S EGG by Martin Jenkins, a National Science Teachers Association - Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children.

Editorial Reviews

The text addresses readers directly, while seamlessly weaving facts into the story...By the time Loggerhead's hatchlings race for their lives across the beach, under threat of attack, readers will be emotionally invested in their pligh—a sure sign of the accomplished storytelling.
—Publishers Weekly

Simple, lyrical words and bright, acrylic double-page pictures convery the astonishing facts about the Loggerhead sea turtle...without condescension, this tells a powerful nature story for a young audience.
—Booklist

This beautifully designed story of a loggerhead sea turtle uses an oversized format and glorious acrylic paintings for a work that is both entertaining and informative...Recommended for school and public library collections.
—Kirkus Reviews

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.
—School Library Journal

Davies is in fine form with an informative narrative that is immediate and loving...until young listeners can paddle through the text on their own, expect calls for encore readings.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, The

This beautifully illustrated book follows a loggerhead turtle from her early years as a baby in the sea to when, as a full-grown sea turtle, she climbs up the beach to dig a nest and lay her eggs.
—Your Big Backyard, featured as “Book of the Month

From the Publisher

"Davies's dramatic rendering of the life cycle of the Loggerhead turtle draws readers into the mysteries of this reclusive deep-sea creature," said PW, "while Chapman's aqua-tinted spreads bring the ocean world to life in all its majestic beauty." Ages 5-8. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

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.

School Library Journal