Turtle Walk

by Matt Phelan, Matt Phelan (Illustrator)

Overview

Turtle walk. Nice and slow. Here we go!

Explore all four seasons with this charming—and patient!—turtle family. Award-winning author-artist Matt Phelan guides the youngest readers from the first blooms of spring and the scorching sun of summer to the crisp leaves of fall and fat snowflakes of winter. Fans of Anna Dewdney and Tad Hills will want to go on this journey again and again.

Spring blooms, and a turtle family is on the move. Slow and steady, they travel up, up, up, the gentle hill through all four seasons. Where are they going? To the top of the sledding hill, of course! But how will they get back down the hill to a well-deserved winter’s rest?

Matt Phelan’s simple, rhythmic text is filled with repetition that shines in read-alouds, and his soft, colorful watercolor artwork bring the seasons to vivid life. The joyful journey and gentle, rewarding surprise make Turtle Walk a timeless choice for every home and classroom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062934130
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matt Phelan is the author and illustrator of several novels for young readers, including the five books in the acclaimed Plum series and Knights vs. Dinosaurs and its two sequels. Matt Phelan’s picture books include Sweater Weather, Turtle Walk, Pignic, and Druthers. He is also the creator of the graphic novels The Storm in the Barn (winner of a Scott O’Dell Award), Around the World, Bluffton, and the New York Times bestseller Snow White: A Graphic Novel. Matt Phelan lives in Pennsylvania.

Matt Phelan is the author and illustrator of several novels for young readers, including the five books in the acclaimed Plum series and Knights vs. Dinosaurs and its two sequels. Matt Phelan’s picture books include Sweater Weather, Turtle Walk, Pignic, and Druthers. He is also the creator of the graphic novels The Storm in the Barn (winner of a Scott O’Dell Award), Around the World, Bluffton, and the New York Times bestseller Snow White: A Graphic Novel. Matt Phelan lives in Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

Turtle kids experience extremely delayed gratification when their parents announce a local adventure in this winning picture book. . . . Phelan . . . makes the trip more than worthwhile . . . with luscious scenes of flowers and showers, a busy playground and brilliant firefly display, and a ripe orchard and a glowing pumpkin field. . . . It’s every memorable family trip in a nutshell, filled with moments of tedium, thrills, and, best of all, togetherness.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A family of turtles slowly wends its way through various landscapes in this gentle rhyming walk through the seasons. . . .  Phelan manages both simplicity and lushness in the loose, charcoal-smudged watercolor art . . . while compositions make clear the breadth of the larger world . . . . This is an easy pick for a seasonal storytime, or as a primer for a family road trip and a reminder that the journey can be more entertaining than the destination." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

"This book has so much to offer for readers, from the simple story that could be sung, to the exploration of seasons, to the repetition of text to engage budding readers. An excellent example of simple storytelling matched with inky watercolor drawings to create a story of family, and a story of seasons. This is a perfect book, and an instant classic for story hours.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“A family of turtles celebrates four seasons with a long walk around its small world. . . . Simple, rhyming text . . . accompanies the little group of four on its journey . . . Phelan’s artwork is lively and visually bright, with rich colors and impressionistic lines . . . Playful and lighthearted.” — Kirkus Reviews

“This slow-burn picture book follows a family of four turtles as they lumber toward . . . [an] unnamed destination. . . . Phelan’s . . . watercolors [fill] the natural landscapes with life . . . with spreads that also—among other hints—reflect the changing seasons. . . . Simple, poetic, and wonderfully joyous.” — Booklist

“Join four turtles . . . on a slow walk through the seasons of the year. . . . The chanting text keeps a gentle rhythm throughout and invites participation . . . Paired with the inviting visuals, the . . . text has just the right mix of pace and repetition to capture the attention of the very youngest listeners.” — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

This slow-burn picture book follows a family of four turtles as they lumber toward . . . [an] unnamed destination. . . . Phelan’s . . . watercolors [fill] the natural landscapes with life . . . with spreads that also—among other hints—reflect the changing seasons. . . . Simple, poetic, and wonderfully joyous.

Booklist

Join four turtles . . . on a slow walk through the seasons of the year. . . . The chanting text keeps a gentle rhythm throughout and invites participation . . . Paired with the inviting visuals, the . . . text has just the right mix of pace and repetition to capture the attention of the very youngest listeners.

Horn Book Magazine

A family of turtles slowly wends its way through various landscapes in this gentle rhyming walk through the seasons. . . .  Phelan manages both simplicity and lushness in the loose, charcoal-smudged watercolor art . . . while compositions make clear the breadth of the larger world . . . . This is an easy pick for a seasonal storytime, or as a primer for a family road trip and a reminder that the journey can be more entertaining than the destination."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

This slow-burn picture book follows a family of four turtles as they lumber toward . . . [an] unnamed destination. . . . Phelan’s . . . watercolors [fill] the natural landscapes with life . . . with spreads that also—among other hints—reflect the changing seasons. . . . Simple, poetic, and wonderfully joyous.

Booklist

2020-07-28
A family of turtles celebrates four seasons with a long walk around its small world.

On the first page, a bright green turtle with a jaunty head decoration, perhaps a leaf or blade of grass, observes two bright butterflies in the sunlight outside a cave. Sleepy turtles—perhaps inside the cave—wake up on the title page. The simple, rhyming text uses very few words. A repeated refrain, “Turtle walk. Nice and slow. / Here we go,” accompanies the little group of four on its journey beginning at the pond by the cave, across a stream, and through a field of flowers. They huddle in spring rain under a daffodil, walk past sunflowers and children on a sunlit playground; they watch fireflies in the dark. A repeated call and response (“Are we there yet?”/ “No”) familiar to traveling families follows the refrain throughout. Phelan’s artwork is lively and visually bright, with rich colors and impressionistic lines; the flat faces of the turtles are expressive, and their round bodies convey personality with a few brush strokes. The turtles pass an apple orchard and a pumpkin patch—including a jack-o’-lantern—as red and yellow leaves begin to fall. The winter return to pond and cave is a spirited, snowy slide. The rhyming text and bright colors will work in toddler storytime as well as for new readers. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.1% of actual size.)

Playful and lighthearted. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews