Product Description

All youngsters need time to rest and to dream, to follow the turtle's example and burrow in for a rejuvenating slumber. Here is both a playful story about friendship and a soothing lullaby.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1909782 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The creators of Bedtime for Bear and Bedtime Mouse offer up another winning sleepy-time tale. Says the round-faced, likable girl who recites this book's rhyming text, "turtle time" is "a little song, a little rhyme" she thinks of when she climbs into bed. She tells how she once found a newly hatched turtle, which she names Fred and brings home, assuring it that she will supply all that she imagines a turtle might need, including a house fashioned from a shoe box, a raincoat for inclement weather and a sled for winter fun. But when Fred disappears into his shell, the youngster is perplexed. Finally her pet explains: "I may be small, but I am free!/ Turtle time is very slow./ It waits until it wants to go./ It has no clocks or rules or maps./ It stops for a lot of turtle naps." A graceful intertwining of nonsense and truth, Stoddard's gentle narrative gives kids much to chuckle at as well as food for thought. The story's humor is deftly mined by Munsinger, whose winsome, inventively detailed art presents such images as Fred looking miserable in a yellow rain slicker, rigidly reclining on a matchbox bed and driving recklessly in a toy car. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?In this odd little story in rhyme, a young girl talks about her pet turtle Fred, whom she found in the woods as a new hatchling. She has learned through trial and error that the animal has all that he needs within his shell and prefers to move at his own pace?turtle time?stopping often to nap. Fred's habits rub off on her and she curls up to sleep in a bed piled high with covers shaped like a shell. Munsinger's large pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons whimsically depict a child who is clearly delighted with her new companion. However, the verse, which does not always scan, presents a confusing message. Obviously, Stoddard offers a model for youngsters who might approach bedtime with reluctance. But she introduces another theme as well, and does not allow it to proceed to a logical conclusion. The little girl recognizes that the turtle is far different from herself. "I may be small, but I am free!" Fred declares. However, instead of returning him to the wild?a natural, albeit painful, response?she keeps him captive in her room. An unnecessary complication.?Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-8. A little girl brings home a baby turtle with the joyous intention of providing him the perfect home--a shoe-box house, ice cream to eat, and a matchbox bed. In no time, she has him donning a yellow slicker, soaring in a red roadster, and wearing shoes. When she eventually picks him up, he has retreated into his shell, overwhelmed. He needs "turtle time," which translates into respect for his quiet, slow, unfettered ways. Delivered in an appealing rhythmic narrative, the story is at once about friendship, individual needs and differences, and respect for animals. It is also a bedtime story. Its lively, expressive illustrations impart the universal need for a quiet retreat, a place "round and brown and still" --like the turtlelike mound of covers in which the little girl finally snuggles for a nap. Shelly Townsend-Hudson