reviews
Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter
Snapshots, calendars, seashells, flowers, and illustrations frame the poignant text in this telling of the tale of the loggerhead sea turtle. The author weaves text as though wielding a paint brush to canvas. Her ability makes this journaling effort well worth the read. The total package includes photos of the author and young daughter. It tells the of how the adult loggerhead turtle rises from the sea, lays her eggs, and returns to the sea and then follows up with the time between egg laying and the hatching of the babies. The loving care offered to keep the eggs and babies safe is clearly depicted in the text and snapshots. Especially nice is the author’s comparison between the baby turtles that will return to the location in 30 years to lay their own eggs and the idea that her own daughter will return home after she is grown up. Fun facts, two matching activities, and directions for making a scrapbook are included in the Creative Minds section that follows the main text. This book has an endearing quality that will make it a favorite with children and adults.
Jean Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe with photographs by Barbara J. Bergwerf is a companion book to Swimming Lessons, the sequel to the best-selling novel, The Beach House. It is a colorful, picturesque journal that vividly describes the nesting cycle of loggerhead sea turtles and other life on the beach from May until August.
Throughout the book, the author engages young readers in ways that they can readily understand, such as: introducing the journal with a note from Mama, referring to her daughter as a "helper" on the Sea Turtle Team, digging with a shell, and carrying a red bucket. As a result, the book comes alive for the reader.
The author's description of the return of the female loggerhead sea turtle after approximately 30 years and the preparation of the nest, and the accompanying framed photographs, enable the reader to visualize the activity. Further, the author describes the procedure for moving eggs to a safe place if the nest is located below the high tide line, as well as how nests are protected by federal law. As the story unfolds, from nesting to hatching, the photographs help readers to visualize scenes from morning until night with the stars and moon as hatchlings return to the sea.
The phrases "now we wait," "while we wait," and "we watch, wait and wonder," are repeated numerous times by the author. These phrases may encourage young readers to patiently observe flowers, shells, and shore birds on the coast. Also, the author emphasizes what nature-lovers and beach-goers should or should not do during the nesting season in order to ensure the survival of the species. A visit to the Sea Turtle Hospital is a highlight of the book showing how volunteers care for injured turtles.
The section "Creative Minds" offers several activities for children and teachers, including: Loggerhead Nesting Fun Facts, Shell Identification, and Making Your Own Nature Scrapbook. For young readers, the book is a resource for studying and identifying life on the coast, while teachers will find the book an excellent resource for writing lessons and other activities.
Jean B. Worsley, Retired Biology Teacher,
for 2007 National Association of Biology Teachers
This book is a journal of a summer’s adventures on an island and the birth of loggerhead sea turtles. The author uses the 55 to 65 days from the time the female turtles lay eggs on the beach, until the time that the hatchlings scramble to the sea, to explore all the wonders of the island. The various shells, flowers, the loggerhead turtle and her egg droppings, beautiful sunrises and sunsets and sea birds are pictured throughout the book. The pictures and the manner in which the author provides details in short descriptions are an exceptional way to draw learners from various reading levels to this book. This title would be an excellent addition to a collection for readers with an interest in endangered species. It is highly recommended for the hesitant reader because of the pictures and the friendly format.
Attractive and informative...best as an introduction for young readers.?
This is a splendid mixture of photos, drawing, and text. Children ages 4 to 9 will relate to this book and its activities, hopefully clamoring to create a similar journal with their siblings and parents
It's a celebration both the motherdaughter
relationship and the nesting and hatchling phase of sea turtles?.
Turtle Summer will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. It?s a great way to teach children about
conservation and endangered species
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Turtle Summer, a Journal for my Daughter
This book presents a charming idea for a parent and child: to keep a nature scrapbook. Mary Alice Monroe has written and illustrated this enchanting journal of a mother and daughter?s summer surveillance for loggerhead sea turtles on their beach. While watching the turtle nests, they observe and sketch nature?s other offerings at the seashore. Like a family photo album, it is an intimate book.
Photographer Barbara J. Bergwerf teamed with Mary Alice Monroe to add exceptional and informative photos, including one of Carolina from the previous Sylvan Dell book, Carolina?s Story: Sea Turtle?s Get Sick Too! This is a splendid mixture of photos, drawing, and text. Children, ages 4 ? 9 will relate to this book and its activities, hopefully clamoring to create a similar journal with their siblings and parents.
Books focus on caring for our planet
KENDAL RAUTZHAN
| This year on April 22, 2007, Earth Day will be celebrated for the 37th consecutive year. Begun in 1970, the efforts of Earth Day have expanded to reach a global network. With more than 15,000 partners and organizations in 174 countries, over 500 million people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. This year the focus for Earth Day is "A Call for Action on Climate Change." Scientists around the world agree that global warming is real and one of the primary threats to life on our planet. It is not the political stunt that some suggest. The climate is changing, and much of that has to do with how humans continue to poison the earth. As one government official in Australia put it, "Global warming is nature's weapon of mass destruction." Each of us can do something. Our collective efforts, both in our individual behaviors and in pressuring our elective officials to enact the right laws will make a difference. Involve children with knowledge and activities (see reviewed books below and log on to http://www.earthday.net/ and http://www.earthdaynetwork.tv/ to learn more). The world our children inherit has everything to do with how we care for the Earth today. BOOKS TO BUY The following books are available at your favorite bookstores. "an inconvenient truth: the crisis of global warming" by Al Gore, Viking/Rodale, 2007, 192 pages, $16.00 paperback Read aloud: age 10 - 11 and older. Read yourself: age 11 - 12 and older. Al Gore's best-selling book has been adapted for a younger audience and is available Tuesday in bookstores everywhere. Through clear language and over 100 images, graphs and color photographs, Gore uses indisputable facts that clearly illuminate the crisis that is happening to our planet today. The first step to solving global warming is to be informed, and this selection provides precisely that, making this book indispensable for young and old alike. "Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter" by Mary Alice Monroe, photos and illustrations by Barbara J. Bergwerf, Sylvan Dell, 2007, 32 pages, $15.95 hardcover; $8.95 paperback Read aloud: age 5 - 9. Read yourself: age 8 - 9. Written as a scrapbook journal by a mother to her daughter, readers learn about loggerhead sea turtles. From nesting cycles and human participation in protecting the nests, the Sea Turtle Hospital, watching the sea turtles hatch, and the natural life along the southeastern coast, this scientifically accurate book is both engaging and informative. Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children's literature. She can be reached via e-mail: kendal@sunlink.net. |
TURTLE SUMMER; A Journal for my Daughter is based on the journal that Toy was writing for Lovie in Swimming Lessons. This children's book shows how Toy and Lovie spent the summer taking care of loggerhead sea turtles.
From May to August, Lovie and her mom are part of the Island Turtle Team. They wait for loggerhead sea turtles to return to lay their eggs. They mark the nests with orange signs so that the public will be careful not to disturb the nest. When the eggs hatch, they make sure that the hatchlings head back to the ocean.
This book has a mix of color photographs and drawings. It's a celebration both the mother-daughter relationship and the nesting and hatchling phase of sea turtles. I couldn't help oohing and ahhing when I saw the pictures of the hatchlings--they are too cute!
Turtle Summer will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. It's a great way to teach children about conservation and endangered species. A section at the end of the back has activities that readers can do in the classroom or at home.
Mary Alice Monroe is a New York Times Bestselling author of ten novels. This is her first children's book. Barbara J. Bergwerf is a nature photographer whose photographs perfectly capture the beach environment. While the sea turtles are the stars of this book, readers will also enjoy the vivid photos of the birds and seashells.
Turtle Summer is a delightful book. The text and photos really capture the reader's interest. I think this book will easily become a family favorite.
Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended!
A touching tribute to her daughter and the South Carolina beach where she lives, author Monroe enlightens children about the endangered Loggerhead sea turtles that make a visit each year. Actual photos of the sea turtles and wildlife on the beach make this a fascinating book to read and look at.
Creative Minds section at the end of the book is full of learning experiences. A must read for any child who loves nature and especially the beach!
Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter" Monroe tells the story of the loggerhead sea turtles clearly and simply, with photographs and illustrations that make readers feel that they are right there on the beach. She conveys the excitement, the awe and the responsibility inspired by these turtles.
Turtle Summer is a collection of photographs chronicling a summer at the beach. It is a work of love, written as a book of memories, dedicated to the author’s daughter. Each page is filled with photos of birds, flowers and shells as well as lovely pictures of the beach.
The main character of this fascinating story is the Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She crawls ashore to lay her eggs on the beach where she was born. She spends hours digging a deep nest to lay her eggs. When she is finished she crawls back to the sea, never to return.
Early each morning Turtle Teams walk the beach looking for turtle tracks. If a nest is found in a safe place it is marked with an orange sign saying it is protected by federal law. If the nest lies below the high tide line it is dug up, the eggs are carefully placed in a red bucket and carried to a higher spot on the beach. The eggs look like ping-pong-balls; it takes 55 to 65 days for the eggs to incubate.
The first nests begin to hatch in July. The baby turtles emerge from their nest in a wiggling mass, resembling a pot boiling over. Instinct guides the hatchlings to the open horizon, to the reflection of the moon and stars. The hatchlings crawl across the beach, once they reach the water, their dive instincts kick in and they disappear in the waves. After 30 years the adult female turtles will return to the beach to lay their eggs. They will have grown from three inches to over three feet and will weigh up to 350 pounds.
As always Sylvan Dell has produced an outstanding book. See all of the beautiful flowers, birds, and seashells as you and your child take an imaginary walk along the beach. Marvel at the miracle of nature as you see the wonderful photographs recording the struggle of the Loggerhead as she digs her nest, deposits her eggs and returns to the sea. The “For Creative Minds” section is filled with Loggerhead fun facts. The page devoted to shell identification will help your child identify his/her shells. How to make your own scrap book is a wonderful way to nurture your child’s creative side. Check-out the “Learning Links” and “Teaching Activities” on their website www.sylvandell.com Kudos to Sylvan Dell, they have another winner.