Box Turtle by John Himmelman is a children's book that follows the life of a common Box turtle. However, there is nothing 'common’ about this old gel at all! She lives to be over a hundred years old. In the background if her life, we see humans arrive in the area. More and more homes appear. So do cars, and she gets run over by one. Thankfully, the rough incident only chipped her shell. A young boy finds her and keeps her as a pet until he leaves for college. He releases her back to the wild. Decades later, the pair meet again, each ancient now. Turtle’s land has become a preserve, and nature is reclaiming it. She can no longer see homes, though humans do still pass through.

My cubs and I read this story together. It is so sweet. Poignant and sad as well. I never knew common box turtles could live so long. Growing up, my family and I always stopped to move turtles off of streets, so they wouldn't get run over. Where I live now, turtles aren't prevalent. We do still move injured animals from the road, and get appropriate care. Now, I'm more likely to be called upon to rescue birds. This book is a great choice for young readers, and as a bedtime read. It houses a great deal of teaching in a few gentle words, and in the gorgeous artwork. Our favourite part was when Turtle shared a meal with her granddaughter, and you got to see the different patterns to the shells.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Muddy Boots Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by “Box Turtle.” The bright colors were wonderful and balanced out the plain story. The afterword was educational and interesting, too.

This book is a wonderful timeline of a box turtle who lives over 100 years. Her life begins in a New England forest in 1890. In 1897 she lays a batch of eggs and then wanders along dirt roads where new neighbourhoods are sprouting up everywhere. The evolving world around her is depicted in timely backgrounds featuring first a horse drawn buggy, then a model-T car. Time progresses and in 1909 the box turtle catches moths attracted to an electric street lamp. In 1913 a motorized car runs over her but luckily she escapes with only a chip on her shell, no injuries thank goodness.

After fifteen years a boy captures her and takes her home as his pet. Her journey keeps on going and the world keeps on turning and changing constantly. Unfortunetly all these alterations are not for the good and some present danger and threat to her habitat. Luckily humans become aware of endangerment plights and soon conservation and preservation techniques are implemented to save the remaining woodlot and rescue those vulnerable creatures from homelessness and even extinction.

This educational story has historical value and teaches kids about conservation and the habits and the life cycle of the box turtle. I loved the whole concept. I particularly loved the tender and gentle ending, a lovely surprise that will pull at the heartstrings of the reader.

The illustrations are truly beautiful, vibrant and empowering to the text. I highly, highly recommend this book.

As a lover of all turtles and the natural world, I thought my son would enjoy reading this book. I felt the book had a lot of potential but there was something lacking. As an adult I understood the perspective of the years and how it showed that box turtles can be long living but for a child who is still trying to learn about weeks and months and days of the year, putting centuries into perspective without some context might be difficult.

The illustrations were lovely and brought a lot of room for discussion, to point out the different animals and trash pieces. I did like the inclusion of the passenger pigeon, which as a biologist I could figure out that's what they were alluding to (but even by that point in the end of the 1800s, wouldn't they have been already rather decimated in population?) but the average parent would likely have no clue until reading the notes at the end.

Overall an enjoyable book for my 3.5 year old son!

This book tells a simple story about a box turtle that lives over 100 years. I did not know that this turtle lived in the woods so I learned something as well. The story shows deforestation over the years along with how we are now trying to save the environment through projects. As I read this book with my grandson, we discussed the illustrations and the text to help him get involved in the story. There was not much to it, but the illustrations encouraged discussion. I liked the note at the back of the book specifically about not taking animals from the wild and what to do if you come across an injured Box Turtle.

This would make a good addition to a collection! It's follows the life and times of one Eastern Box Turtle. Not a lot of info about them, but a nice story about a turtle and its home. The illustrations were nice and I look forward to finding a copy of the book so I can see it in color. I've lived long enough to see many changes toward wildlife and the environment and this book makes me smile with it's good message.

I was excited, as an associate director of a reptile rescue, to read this book but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. It was cool to see history pass through the eyes of the box turtle but the writing style was not very interesting for the fact it is a picture book. I liked the pictures but I can't imagine the story holding the interest of a young child. I did really appreciate the last footnote page as a rescuer though.