Product Description

"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

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53089 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-14
• Released on: 2005-06-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

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.

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.

From Booklist
Ages 4-9. Simple, lyrical words and bright, acrylic double-page pictures convey the astonishing facts about the Loggerhead sea turtle. The story is told by focusing on one newly hatched baby far out to sea in a tangle of weed and driftwood: how she moves ("flapping her long front flippers like wings . . . flying underwater"); how she breathes; and how she grows during years of traveling thousands of miles from cool seaweed jungles to turquoise lagoons, where she munches on coral. Then the miracle after 30 years: now big as a barrel, she returns to the beach where she was born to mate and lay her eggs. With the narrative about one turtle, there are also a few notes in smaller type that fill in the background, and there's an index to particular topics. Without condescension, this tells a powerful nature story for a young audience. Those who want more can go on to Kathryn Lasky's excellent photo-essay Interrupted Journey (2001), which adds fascinating detail about current efforts at conservation. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Fun to Read and Very Educational.
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.

A VERY WELL DONE AND INFORMATIVE BOOK - KIDS LOVE THIS ONE
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).

My Favorite Book!
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.