Review by Booklist Review
Turtles have lived on Earth for more than 220 million years, but modern environmental stressors make their existence in several regions of the world a tenuous one. Using examples of specific turtles and the regions where they live, Stewart blends a storybook-style narrative with factual marginalia to present a wide range of ecological challenges in this newest installment in the A Place for . . . series. Interposed with colorful and highly detailed acrylic illustrations, topics such as pollution, invasive species, and ecosystem destruction are all mentioned. Maps cover virtually all parts of the United States and detail the types of turtles indigenous to each region. While the topic of the book is clearly turtles, the narrative raises points of conversation on a host of environmental issues and will get young minds thinking about the interconnectedness of organisms, ecology, and the impact of human actions on the world around them. A classroom-friendly blend of story and fact.--Anderson, Erin Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-The fast decline of the slow-moving turtle is the focus of this title. On most of the spreads, one or two simple sentences set within a wide, colored margin at the top describe a human activity harmful to turtles (e.g., the use of plastic bags, which pollute the world's oceans and kill the marine turtles that mistake them for jellyfish; the reptiles' decimation by cars traveling near their habitats; collecting wild turtles for pets, etc.) and then suggest a solution ("When people stop using plastic shopping bags, turtles can live and grow," "When people build turtle-proof fences along busy highways.," "When people stop collecting these beautiful reptiles.," etc.). Realistic, brightly hued acrylic paintings appear throughout, depicting one or more turtles in their natural habitats while sidebars identify the species, explaining how its survival is threatened and what efforts are being made to save it. Also discussed are turtles' key place in the wildlife food chain and simple ways that readers can help conserve them. An addendum offers miscellaneous facts, and small maps on endpapers indicate the geographical range of the 12 species depicted, which include the desert tortoise, leatherbacks, bog turtles, and box turtles. As there is a dearth of material on turtle conservation aimed at this age level, A Place for Turtles will help fill an information gap; its brilliantly executed paintings are bound to attract browsers as well.-Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public Library (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this affectionate book, each double-page spread's simple narrative begins with a problem one of eleven different turtle species faces, e.g. habitat destruction, followed by a sometimes-obvious solution: "When people protect these natural places, turtles can live and grow." Detailed acrylic art accompanies the text, and boxes offer facts about each reptile; endpapers contain a distribution map. Bib. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
