My Turtle Journal by Teresa Westing

Explore life as a baby box turtle!

My Turtle Journal follows a wee box turtle that has been lost in a storm and ended up on a road. A caring woman finds it and brings it home to her husband Paul. They take care of the turtle, setting up a terrarium for it. Because the turtle is so teensy, they call it Buttons. All of the stories are told from Buttons point of view, and Westing does a good job of impressing just how little creatures can be terrified of even the most well meaning human. We are, after all, far bigger than most animals. Buttons soon comes to love its human family though.

This is a great book about box turtle life and care. There are some parts that are sad, so it might not be suitable for very young children, depending on parental preference. We keep very little from our cubs, and don’t sugarcoat things. I suppose that comes from that I was raised on a horse farm and learned some lessons early. Like, do not take a farm cat’s catch from it, if it’s still alive. I took a mole our big tom had caught away from him and my grandmother made me give it back. She said that’s how he got his food, and he worked hard for it. Mind… my grandparents didn’t harm animals unnecessarily, and it’s from them I got my own love. My grandmother would be the first to take in orphaned or injured critters to rehabilitate.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Dog Ear Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

 

High Sierra by Fred Weyman

Take a armchair journey through the breathtaking High Sierras.

Spanning thirty backpacking trips into the depths of the Sierra Nevada wilderlands, photographer Frank Weyman presents the bountiful beauty in this photo collection. Interspersed among the pictures are words of wisdom to complement the stunning photos by such people as John Muir, and Jack Kerouac, among many others. Weyman clearly has an eye for detail, composition, and beauty, as well as a passion for his work! Thirty+ trips is a lot!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Schiffer Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

 

A Stick Until… by Constance Anderson

Through beautiful artwork, we follow the journey of a stick as it is used by different animals in turn, to aid in food gathering, as a flyaway, and much more. Finally, the stick falls into the hands of several children, whose vibrant imagination makes use of it as a plaything. Lastly, it becomes a sturdy prop that supports a tiny sapling, that will eventually grow into a tree to supply many more sticks that may become tools or toys for other animals. Each entry has a brief fact about the use in question. At the end of the book, there is a section with other notes about the animals in question, or regarding human uses for sticks.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Star Bright Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.