Turtle and Tortoise Are Not Friends

by Mike Reiss, Ashley Spires (Illustrator)

Overview

Two sworn enemies learn that they have more in common than meets the eye, and it’s never too late to make a new friend—even if it takes decades!

Ever since they were little hatchlings, Turtle and Tortoise decided that they’d forever be separated due to their different shells.

As years and years go by, the two reptiles stay on opposites side of the pen and embark on their own adventures, while holding an everlasting grudge. Until one day, Turtle and Tortoise get into a bit of pickle and need each other’s help!

This hilarious and heartwarming picture book from Merry Un-Christmas author Mike Reiss and The Most Magnificent Thing creator Ashley Spires is perfect for fans of unlikely pairs such as Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel, Duck and Bear from Jory John’s Goodnight Already!, and Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman.

Turtle has a smooth shell.

Tortoise has a rough shell.

Goodness gracious! How can they possibly be friends?!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060740313
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/23/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mike Reiss has won four Emmys and a Peabody Award during his twenty-eight years writing for The Simpsons. He ran the show in Season 4, which Entertainment Weekly called “the greatest season of the greatest show in history.” In 2006, Reiss received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus. Reiss has written jokes for such comedy legends as Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling…and Pope Francis! For his comedic contributions to the charitable group Joke with the Pope, in 2015 Pope Francis declared Reiss “A Missionary of Joy.”

 

Ashley Spires is the author and illustrator of several children’s books, including the bestselling The Most Magnificent Thing and the Binky the Space Cat series of graphic novels, which is now an animated television series. Ashley lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her dog and her many, many cats. You can visit her online at www.ashleyspires.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/22/2019

When Turtle and Tortoise hatch in the same city zoo habitat, they seem destined to be besties for a good long time—as the zookeeper points out, “they can live to be one hundred years old!” But Tortoise quickly and haughtily declares that they are too different to be friends (“It just wouldn’t make sense”). Turtle wimpishly cedes the point, and they hunker down on either side of a small pond as the years pile up. Reiss (How Murray Saved Christmas) dutifully notes the lengthy passages of time to comic effect (“Over the next fourteen years, the turtle and the tortoise had many interesting adventures. But each refused to tell the other about them”). The two are so stubborn and slow-moving that it takes an entire human generation, plus the time it takes to “read the entire Oxford English Dictionary, A to Z, twenty-three times,” to realize they can become friends. Digital vignettes by Spires (The Most Magnificent Thing) have a comedic pacing that matches the text’s mix of exaggeration and understatement. As the cityscape modernizes behind the zoo enclosure’s drama, it becomes clear that some things, from buildings to friendships, just take time. Ages 4–8. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Humorous and deep.” — Kirkus Reviews

“As the cityscape modernizes behind the zoo enclosure’s drama, it becomes clear that some things, from buildings to friendships, just take time.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

05/10/2019

K-Gr 2-When Turtle and Tortoise hatch in the same British zoo pen at the same time, they know they will be the best of friends until just three sentences into their friendship, tortoise discovers that his pen-mate is a turtle, "a horrid beast with rough skin and a hard shell, while I am a handsome creature with a hard shell and rough skin." At that, both stubborn reptiles go to opposite sides of their pen and spend the next 46 years not being friends. Nothing can bring them together— not learning they might live 100 years, interesting adventures, difficult winters, amazing New Year's fireworks, or being stuck on their backs for 19 years after an ill-fated attempt to play (separately, of course). It isn't until they hear the new zookeeper (son of the original zookeeper) mention that "all tortoises are turtles" that tortoise suggests that they work together to regain their feet and, after cogitating on it for six years, turtle agrees. Soon the two new friends are standing together sharing stories and lettuce. Turtle and Tortoise are given their own voices by way of text bubbles. Spires's photoshop illustrations give the text real life with great facial expressions, sense of place, humor and the perfect use of white space. The passage of time is depicted very subtly and cleverly in the change of the skyline and clothing styles. VERDICT A tale of two animals split by perceived differences that are brought together by a new knowledge of sameness that raises more questions than it answers.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2019-04-14
Two eggs find themselves in the same pen in a London zoo, and when they hatch, a turtle and a tortoise emerge.

The turtle and tortoise think of all the fun they'll have together. "We shall be best friends," they agree for a quick second, until the turtle dubs them "the Terrible Turtle Twins!" Suddenly, the tortoise is affronted. "I'm not a turtle," he says, and goes on to explain that "a turtle is a horrid beast with rough skin and a hard shell," whereas he, the tortoise, is "a handsome creature with a hard shell and rough skin." The turtle and tortoise decide it would not make sense for them to be friends given their differences, and they spend many years apart and resolutely do not talk to each other. When their lives are (literally) upturned one day, the question arises: Can the turtle and the tortoise overcome their differences to help themselves and each other? Reiss' subtle wit (which takes ample advantage of tortoise and turtle racing speeds) and Spires' nearly identical turtle and tortoise highlight the absurdity of what it means to be different. The passage of time is marked by the fashion of passers-by, who grow more diverse with the decades. Although some readers may take exception to the zookeeper's unexplained assertion that "all tortoises are turtles," the book's underlying message of tolerance and acceptance is worth sharing.

Humorous and deep. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews