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Book Review: What Newt Could Do for Turtle
by Jonathan London, illustrated by Louise Voce (Candlewick Press, 1996, 40 pages).
This is a story about a friendship between a newt and a turtle. It is not a book that teaches anything about science; it is a story that uses animals in an allegorical way, that is, as a means to illustrate a human(e) principle. It's meant to illustrate friendship, giving, and giving back. The story is worthwhile and the illustrations are delightful and heartwarming.
Turtle is always on hand to help Newt out of a scrape, and Newt wishes he could do something for Turtle, which he finally manages.
This book takes place in a mystical land where alligators, bobcats, notos, polecats, turtles, and cottonmouths are all found. Also in this land, the seasons change, and winter comes. Seeing the alligator swimming under the falling Fall leaves was a bit jarring, but in a land where a turtle and a newt can be best friends, the normal laws of species mixing don't apply. (Of course I'm being facetious, using scientific standards on a genre that is not meant to follow such mundane principles. )
In the end, I don't care if newts don't really dance with turtles* -- look at those adorable pictures. Children's books make up for, in fanciful pictures, what they lack in realism.
It's a trade-off I'll willingly accept. Moreover, I think that while allegorical salamander stories may not teach science, anthropomorphization teaches compassion and may prepare a child not to be squeamish about certain animals later on. For example, once when my nephew visited, I tried to show him and his mother my little leopard gecko Fluffy. He was scared of the lizard because his mother saw it and said "Eeeew, take it away." He mirrored his mother's reaction. If I could have referred him to a beloved fairy tale or favorite lizard toy it might have allowed him to overcome his mother's reaction and form his own. Kids learn what they're taught.
If he can learn compassion for them when he's young, he may approve habitat-sparing legislation for them, and other "eeew"-type animals, when he grows up to be President of the United States. Or something along these lines.
This book is definitely worth reading to your little newt. Paperback available used on Amazon starting at $2.76.
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*Actually, it only looks that way in the picture; they're not dancing. Turtle is pulling Newt out of the mud.
by Jonathan London, illustrated by Louise Voce (Candlewick Press, 1996, 40 pages).
This is a story about a friendship between a newt and a turtle. It is not a book that teaches anything about science; it is a story that uses animals in an allegorical way, that is, as a means to illustrate a human(e) principle. It's meant to illustrate friendship, giving, and giving back. The story is worthwhile and the illustrations are delightful and heartwarming.
Turtle is always on hand to help Newt out of a scrape, and Newt wishes he could do something for Turtle, which he finally manages.
This book takes place in a mystical land where alligators, bobcats, notos, polecats, turtles, and cottonmouths are all found. Also in this land, the seasons change, and winter comes. Seeing the alligator swimming under the falling Fall leaves was a bit jarring, but in a land where a turtle and a newt can be best friends, the normal laws of species mixing don't apply. (Of course I'm being facetious, using scientific standards on a genre that is not meant to follow such mundane principles. )
In the end, I don't care if newts don't really dance with turtles* -- look at those adorable pictures. Children's books make up for, in fanciful pictures, what they lack in realism.
It's a trade-off I'll willingly accept. Moreover, I think that while allegorical salamander stories may not teach science, anthropomorphization teaches compassion and may prepare a child not to be squeamish about certain animals later on. For example, once when my nephew visited, I tried to show him and his mother my little leopard gecko Fluffy. He was scared of the lizard because his mother saw it and said "Eeeew, take it away." He mirrored his mother's reaction. If I could have referred him to a beloved fairy tale or favorite lizard toy it might have allowed him to overcome his mother's reaction and form his own. Kids learn what they're taught.
If he can learn compassion for them when he's young, he may approve habitat-sparing legislation for them, and other "eeew"-type animals, when he grows up to be President of the United States. Or something along these lines.
This book is definitely worth reading to your little newt. Paperback available used on Amazon starting at $2.76.
--------------------------------------------------------
*Actually, it only looks that way in the picture; they're not dancing. Turtle is pulling Newt out of the mud.
