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Taking young readers under the ocean, to the beach's edge, deep inside a sandy hole, then back into the waves of the sea (after experiencing winged danger from sky predators), Barron's picture book introduces the lifecycle of the sea turtle. With fins built for swimming and "bony shell backs nearly hard as a tree," a sea turtle couple explores, feasting on seaweed, when Mrs. Sea Turtle instinctively knows it's time to lay her eggs near the shore's grassline. Narrowly avoiding becoming a shark's meal, the turtle reaches land and lays 100 eggs, burying them deep. Embryos form inside each egg, gradually developing fins, eyes, a shell, and more. Weeks later, the eggs crack open as baby turtles instinctively climb out, making their way home into the ocean. Their journey contains risks, such as vultures and frigate birds swooping from the skies. A single sea turtle survives its journey back into the salty expanse of the sea.
Barron's colorful children's book is presented in rhyming lines and accompanied by bright, immersive illustrations. Child-appropriate language relates the adventurous (and often dangerous) life cycle of the sea turtle. This story's highlight undoubtedly lies in its educational value. Readers learn much about this remarkable creature, including sea turtles' natural predators, their diet, mating, and the hazards females face on their journey to shore to bury and hide their eggs. One illuminating page depicts in rough sketch embryo formation, showing the development of certain features from day one to day forty. As the author concludes, this story continues "fifteen years later," when the former baby turtle returns to land to lay her own eggs, invoking the miraculous "cycle of nature." Sure to spark curious imagination in young readers, this delightful book encourages a love of learning about the natural world we share with other animals, underwater and otherwise.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review