23rd May World Turtle Day

World Turtle Day is celebrated on 23rd May.

Turtles are omnivore reptiles characterised by a shell made from bones, developed from their ribs, covering the body. Turtles can be terrestrial or live in freshwater or the sea. Their main threat is being killed as bycatch in fishing nets, and disappearing habitats. 

I have written about Turtle Day before, but recently the library has purchased some new books that feature turtles.

Book 1 

Green Sea Turtle  by John Lesley

Find out about the mysterious life of the green sea turtle and why we need to stop it becoming extinct in this new addition to the  Australia's Remarkable Wildlife series.

Book 2

The Book of Turtles  by Sy Montgomery & Matt Patterson

An ode to one of the most diverse, fascinating, and beloved species on the planet: turtles. With dazzling illustrations and emotionally engaging, fact-filled text, this picture book will speak to the wisdom these long-lived animals can lend.

Book 3

The Turtle Who Turned the Tide  by Rachel Bright & Jim Field

On a midnight-black beach, it's time for a grand hatching. A rowdy crowd of animal onlookers have gathered to see which baby turtle will win the great race to safety in the sea, but when Tula's brother loses his way, this baby turtle faces a difficult choice: will she choose to win the race or will she turn back to rescue her brother? 

And last weekend I went to Gleebooks to hear Anna Walker talk about her new book,  The Dream Keeper.

Book 4

In a small boat, the turtle sets off on a journey to deliver dreams in the nearby city. Meanwhile, a young girl, scared in the night by the shadows in her room, finds comfort in her toys ... but cannot sleep. 

As the two stories unfold side by side, the young girl and the intrepid turtle must each harness their courage and overcome their fears as their worlds collide in the most wonderful, magical way.

For more wonderful turtle picture books see my Pinterest or put 'turtles' in the search of my blog.

23rd May World Turtle Day

It’s easy to get confused between a tortoise and turtle. The main difference between the two is that turtles sometimes live in the water, while tortoises only live on the land. Turtles live up to the age of 40 and have streamlined and mostly flat shells. On the other hand, tortoises can live up to 300 years and they have larger, more domed shells. You will mostly find turtles in the sea, while tortoises inhabit dense jungles and grasslands. Turtles and tortoises are two different animals but this day is dedicated to celebrating and protecting both.

I have written about this day before here and here, but in our school library this is a day when no matter what I put on display, the books all seem to get borrowed. This topic is nearly as popular as polar bears and pandas so the library has a number of fiction and nonfiction titles. See my Pinterest page. The book pictured A Turtle's View of the Ocean Blue  by Catherine Barr and Brendan Kearney is truly inspiring and fairly new so if you are short of turtle books, consider this one. The day after Turtle Day Lindsay Moore's new book, Yoshi and the Ocean will be released. It is based on a real turtle who was released from captivity in South Africa, but then was tracked travelling thousands of miles. What amazing creatures turtles are!

If tortoises are of more interest, two must reads are Jean Craighead George's  Galapagos George (also based on a real creature) or Paul Geraghty's Tortuga are worth hunting for in a library.

 

3rd July Plastic Bag Free Day

There has been so much talk about going without plastic bags that even the five year olds I teach can tell you why we should. We live near the water, so these children spend a lot of time at the beach, on boats and in the water. They know about the damage they cause in the ocean especially to turtles, but it is always a topic that needs revisiting, so when I saw this new book at the bookshop I purchased it for the library. Someone Swallowed Stanley by animal behaviourist and wildlife expert Sarah Roberts reiterates this important message about turtles and plastic bags and it has a child as the wildlife hero. It also has fun illustrations by Hannah Peck who seems to have enjoyed giving all the sea animals anthropomorphic mannerisms. If you are looking for other books about plastic bags see this earlier entry in my blog.

23rd May World Turtle Day

For more than a hundred million years, sea turtles have been swimming in the world's oceans. I find that amazing. I even have trouble imagining that length of time. Turtles obviously are designed well if they have been around for that long. They look so graceful and hardy in the water, yet seem to really struggle as hatchlings to get from the sand to the water. Why the two extremes?  Well celebrating Turtle Day encourages us to think about the world of turtles and tortoises and to learn about how to help them to thrive.

Yesterday I collected all the library turtle resources, to put together a display and was surprised to see how much we had. We also have some beautiful soft toy turtles and a Galapagos tortoise which helps attract the children to the books. I like putting together these 'day' displays because it ensures the resources are looked at, at least annually and given the chance to be borrowed. I also took the opportunity to do some weeding, discarding some of the older non-fiction titles as we had plenty of newer books with quality photographs. As I purchase some of the wonderful titles that are coming from National Geographic and that are perfect my young audience it is easy to see why the older books aren't borrowed.

By the end of the day most of the fiction had been borrowed and I was left with only a few of the older non-fiction titles. Overall a successful display and several families will certainly get to think about turtles! Wish they were all this easy. On the other side of the library there is a display for Library Week. Those books aren't going out the door at the same rate!

For the books on display see my pinterest page.

23rd May World Turtle Day

It is World Turtle Day! The purpose of this day is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for turtles and tortoises, and to encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society has organised activities for the day in the very North of Australia, but is encouraging all Australians to do what they can.

What a great excuse to read books about turtles and there are so many really good ones beside E.L.Konigburg's A View From Saturday which is written for children much older than my clientele. My good Year 2 readers really like Chelonia Green, Champion of Turtles though, a novel about rescuing turtles that is written by Australian author Christobel Mattingley. Reading this then encourages them to read factual texts about turtles and to research turtles further.

There are so many really good picture books to explore as well. These are just some that we have in the library. About turtles:

• The Smallest Turtle by Lynley Dodd

• One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

• Turtle Taxi by Guundie Kuchling

• Turtle Bay by Saviour Pirotta

• Follow the Moon by Sarah Weeks

• Journey of the Sea Turtle by Mark Wilson

• Old Turtle by Douglas Wood

About tortoises:

• Galapagos Means Tortoises by Ruth Heller

• Yakkin the Swamp Tortoise by Guundie Kuchling

• A Mummy for Owen by Marion Dane Bauer and all the

• Owen and Mzee titles by Isabella Hatkoff et al.

Do you need an excuse to read Esio Trot by Roald Dahl?