Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle

Author: Nicole Weaver
ISBN: 978-14327-2377-4
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Source: Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour
*To price/purchase click the image to the left*

Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle tells the story of one little girl’s compassion. When Marie sees what she thinks is a sea shell she runs towards it with delight only to discover it is a giant sea turtle that is stuck on the mainland! The turtle needs to get back to the ocean in order to survive but Marie is not strong enough to help. Will Marie’s parents help or continue with their plans for turtle soup? The story tells of Marie’s bravery, compassion and desire to help her new friend.

The story of Marie and the sea turtle was cute. The story is delivered in three different languages which gives it a unique selling quality. I didn’t enjoy the set up of this quality. All three languages are on the same page which made the pages feel crowded. One page had to repeat itself in order to fit all three languages. The story is short and could have been delivered in a smaller book with a lower cost if it was one language. The book is $14.95 and while cute, I wouldn’t pay $14.95 for the story. The illustrations are nice, but not outstanding. The book has the same tone and imagery throughout.

Overall this book was average for me. It was a cute story with a good lesson, but it wasn’t spectacular and didn’t stand out in any particular areas for me. My girls weren’t very interested in reading it multiple times. I would suggest this book for children four to eight years of age who may be learning or speaking multiple languages. The book is written in English, Spanish and French. It appears to be a helpful tool for learning in this capacity. The story has many repeated words for language recognition and repetitive learning but is not for beginners.

3/5