The Foolish Tortoise

I was so happy to find this book, as I love Eric Carle's illustrations but don't care for his writing. Thank goodness for Richard Buckley and his entertaining story about the foolish tortoise. The rhyming text is great for both parents' and babies' ears, and the images are beautiful. The one small complaint I have is a cosmetic one-- the type used in the book is a little chintzy looking (sorry for the unprofessional term). It doesn't stand out boldly like text in most other board books.

I was so happy to find this book, as I love Eric Carle's illustrations but don't care for his writing in most cases. Thank goodness for Richard Buckley and his entertaining story about the foolish tortoise. The rhyming text is great for the ears, and the images are beautiful. Another thing I like about this book is that it is meatier than most board books-- i.e., more pages and more text on each 2-page spread. Therefore, it will be a story that I read to my son for a few years to come.

This cute story is about a tortoise that decides one day that he is tired of being slow. He takes off his shell, and starts off. Soon he discovers that he misses his shell for all the things it provided him: shelter, shade, and safety. He realizes too that he will never be fast, and when he finally finds his shell again, he gladly climbs back inside. This story is told wonderfully, and in rhyme as well. The words flow well, and are fun to read out loud. The illustrations are Eric Carle's customary well-done collages. The cute story well told and with such fun illustrations makes for a great book. Loggie-log-log-log

The Foolish Tortoise was a very good book, I love Eric Carle's work. The pictures were marvelous. I won't give away the ending but he leaves his shell to travel to places he could never go before, but he's still not as fast as a horse, so he gets kind of depressed. He also finds trouble and he can't hide in his shell, so he find shelter behind rocks and tree, etc. He gets cold and has no heat. He walks around looking for his shell, does he find it? Get the book to find out.

Unlike the annoyingly stupid Brown Bear, etc., this book is easy on the parent's nerves. I can read it over and over.