The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle

I thought this was a lovely story. The illustrations are beautiful and will help engage children with the book. I would love to read more about the adventures that Thomas goes on so please consider writing a sequel. I can't wait till my son is old enough to read this story.

This was a fun trip - literally - although Thomas, heedless of the good advice he was given, probably didn't think so as he was swept from the placid waters of his boringly calm pond, down the creek and over a waterfall. Can he get back home? Don't you just hate book blurbs that ask questions with the obvious answer "Yes"?! Fortunately this one had no such dumb blurb because it wasn't a dumb story. Although I have to say that the 'turtles' here looked far more like tortoises to me! But who cares? Maybe tortoises are just turtles with a dry sense of humor....

Thomas's father disappeared a long time ago when he went down the dangerous end of the pond. Thomas of course cannot resist following his lead, and he has a slightly scary adventure tumbling downstream. Just when he thinks he might never get home, fortune, as they say, favors the brave. He gets a piece for good luck and doesn't have to...shell out for a bus ride back home!

The book worked equally well on a smart phone as it did on a tablet (both in a Kindle app which is frankly not the best way to look at picture books). But if you're caught without the tablet, you can get by with the phone, which is always nice, although the pictures aren't shown at their best on the smaller screen, and the phone doesn't allow enlargement of the pictures for a closer look, whereas the tablet does.

The story was amusing, and a bit scary, and engaging. The artwork was adorable. I'm not an artist. In fact I'm about as far from one as you can get without going all the way around the other side and backing into it by mistake, but this was at least reminiscent of watercolor and oddly maybe mixed with crayon, and it looked really great. I recommend this book for young children who like adventure - and who doesn't as long as you can be safe at home reading about it?!

This is a sweet book! The illustrations are beautiful and it teaches a very important lesson. Highly recommend!

The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle is a more realistic nature book then the typical cartoon or bright colored picture book for children. The paintings are more realistic, although the Thomas definitely shows a bit more personality, nature is depicted with realism. Thomas crosses the line and gets into danger, and the situation brings to mind how we can teach our children more closely about real animal life when we find stray turtles, and other wildlife. Excellent teaching tool for homeschoolers, libraries, schools, and young readers who love nature and wildlife.

My Thoughts: This is a cute story about a young turtle who one day, decides to go against his mother's rules, going to the forbidden region. Thomas' father was lost in the forbidden region of the pond and never seen again. Thomas goes on a wild ride and ends up far from home and struggles to find a way back. Fortunately, two children are there to assist him.
The illustrations made this book for me. They were very well done and do a great job showing Thomas' story from home, to the forbidden region, and back again.

One curious turtle takes a dangerous journey in The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle by Stuart Samuel. The story is simply told with lovely colorful illustrations. Thomas’ story is one of family, kindness of others, going astray and returning home the wiser for the journey. Also within the story is a spiritual quality that I was pleased to see.

Geared towards young children, Thomas’ adventure has enough danger to keep them interested but not so much as to scare children. Early elementary children would enjoy seeing the events from Thomas’ perspective. Maybe like me, they will always relate any turtle that see to Thomas, speculating on what kind of adventure the turtle is taking at the time.

This was a sweet story about turtles. The underlying message was one of listen to your mother.

The illustrations are very well done and represent the story well.

I think children and adults alike will enjoy it. Although there is an argument that children should not follow blindly.

Quite well written.



*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35054050-the-adventure-of-thomas-the-turtle

This cute story explains a turtle's adventure into the forbidden area. In its colorful pages, it shows children that animals have thoughts, feelings, and communicate with one another. What I really liked about this story was the lesson about animals in nature should be kept in nature. It shows children that even though it might be cool to have a turtle as a pet, he/she does have a home and that is where he/she belongs. Very cute and enjoyable read for young children!

​An adorable and well illustrated turtle story. I really enjoyed it and children of all ages should enjoy this as well. ​Mother's have great wisdom, and should be listened to. Will Thomas learn that before it's too late?

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.