Title: The Box Turtle
Author and Illustrator: Vanessa Roeder
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020.
Themes: Self-esteem, creativity/imagination, determination
Little Terrance the box turtle is born without a shell. His parents gave him a a shell that fit just right. Terrance was happy until one day some other turtles told him his shell was weird. Off he went to find something better. Terrance tries many shells, but each has something not quite right. Tag along with Terrance and his hermit crab friend to see what he discovers.
What I like about this book:
The artwork! Illustrations are created with Prismacolors, acrylics, and a box full of digital tricks. You can see from the cover that the colors are bright and cheerful. There is a lot going in in some of the illustrations, but you always know where to look to find Terrance and discover the problem.
Humor: Many of the box choices are so silly, kids will be laughing and pointing out why the idea was so bad.
Sweetness/Cuteness factor: This is just adorable, but not saccharine sweet, sunny and endearing sweet which make it appealing to so many kids.
Search and Find: Throughout the illustrations, there are little threads you can follow from characters appearing before their scene, to color palettes, and the raccoon.
Activities and resources:
Before you turn and look at the back end pages, see if you can think of other things that Terrance could use as a shell? Did you come up with some that Vanessa didn't illustrate? Did you come up with the ones that she did?
Check out the Teacher's Guide. It is STEAM Powered! and created by Marcie Colleen
If you haven't already read Lucy and the String, be sure to get your hands on that one too.
Learn more about Vanessa and her books on her website. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram too.
Be sure to check out Susanna Hill's Perfect Picture Book Friday Posts. Not only will you find out what she likes, but there's a list of books recommended by authors and illustrators too.
This sounds like Terrance learns to be comfortable in his own box. A sweet story, along with being humorous. And it's got such a great hook!
ReplyDeleteGreat book. I wondered who would do the #PPBF post for it. Love your activities!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story about self-esteem and determination. I especilly like the creativity and silliness for children. I am sure they will come up with ideas of their own -- great exercise in creativity. Thanks for sharing!
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