Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

My hardback copy of Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! arrived this week and I'm delighted with it. It is a charming and educational book, and so beautifully illustrated! As a volunteer for Gulf Islands National Seashore, I patrol the beach at dawn for sea turtle nests from May through September and nest-sit at night from July through October when hatchlings emerge. I appreciate the way Ms. Sayre shows the challenges these endangered species face in order to survive - and also how she tells a bit about each species at the back of the book. The illustrations by Annie Patterson are luminous indeed and perfectly capture the glow of the moon on the water and beach at night as we patiently wait for a nest of hatchlings to come boiling out of the sand and then strive to protect them on their march to the sea. Through her illustrations you may be able to see in part how we become so passionate about our conservation efforts with sea turtles. I just love this book and think that adults and children alike will be captivated by Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!

The beautiful colors and the incredible detail of this book will have you noticing something different each time you look at a page. The story is an important one about an important topic. The Loggerhead turtle...the world's most-studied and best-known sea-turtle, also endangered. The illustrator of this book brings it all to life with the magic of her palette and her eye for detail. I have a collection of children's books and this one goes at the top of my collection... for all ages.

"Turtle, Turtle,Watch Out!" is a well written book that deserves a place in every elementary library. Teachers and children who read this book will learn about the danger in the life cycle of the endangered sea turtle. It would be a good resource for research. The illustrations by Lee Christiansen are magnificent.