Title: A Turtle’s Tail
Author: Travis Cole
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-9845-6618-8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction / Animals
Pages: 59
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
A tale of a turtle that uses his tail to speed up his swimming brings the personification of animals to a world-class event in author Travis Cole’s Juvenile Fiction book titled A Turtle’s Tale.
Heavily laden with a moral compass of working hard to achieve your goal, along with the use of competition among various species of animals to highlight individual achievement, the illustrations by artist Salvador Capuyan grace Cole’s story fits perfectly – resulting in a memorable book which can be read time and time again without losing any of the impact of the excitement within.
Cleverly, the story is about a turtle, Splash who dreams of competing in the Animalympics, the world’s most prestigious sporting competition which happens every two years. As certain species are best for appropriate events; such as cheetahs competing in the sprints and a capuchin monkey in gymnastics, the seals dominate the swimming events. No one thought a slow turtle could hold a chance in competing against the seals in the 200-meter freestyle swimming event. Yet there was Splash, determined to race against Fin, the renowned USA swimmer and the other seals from various countries. What Splash lacked in physical design, he made up for with his determination and drive. In fact, he learned to use his tale to his advantage to speed up his arms and legs in his swimming technique.
Needless to say the climax of the story takes place at the Animalympics, this particular year being held in Tokyo. Travis Cole builds up the credibility of his story outlining the methodology of swimming competition with the preliminary races, semi-finals and finals; each explaining the timing criteria being shown to readers. Readers are taken into the mindsets of these fanciful animals and their aggressiveness in competition to win. Splash becomes the protagonist who is easy to root for, as he gains the hearts and minds of all readers – as well as the crowd! The lessons of determination, drive and focus become the deciding factors in victory or defeat.
A Turtle’s Tale is a great book with sufficient text to bring a detailed story to life and just the right touch with the illustrations to cement the images into the minds of young readers – or those being read to. It is a very good book, one to surely become a favorite to all children, especially those who are competitive swimmers or enjoy sporting competitions. On your mark – get ready – go buy A Turtle’s Tale!
