How Old Is Mr. Tortoise?
by Dev Petty
illustrated by Ruth Chan
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written July 26, 2022, from my own copy, signed by the author at ALA Annual Conference
Starred Review
Here’s a silly picture book about an old tortoise who just wants to eat cake on his birthday. But his friends want to know how many candles to put on the cake before anyone gets a slice.
So then they try to figure out how old Mr. Tortoise is. There are some silly guesses. Some ideas based on what he remembers. And finally, he remembers that he moved into his fancy enclosure on his hundredth birthday and was given a new succulent each year as a gift after. When you also add in the ones he’s eaten, they can finally figure out how old he is.
But the cake won’t fit that many candles! Will Mr. Tortoise ever get to eat cake?
This book has a nice little bit of math to make me happy and to get kids thinking about numbers. But my favorite part of that is what I just discovered — under the paper cover, the book shows a great big cake (instead of the cover image) — and I counted and it has the right amount of candles. (Unfortunately, on the library version, the cover will get taped down and you won’t get to check.) Ha! Though I just counted the candles pictured on the endpapers (apparently leftover after the cake is mostly eaten) — and there are again exactly the right amount. Nice touch!
But even without the math, it’s a happy story of friends and a birthday and cake! What’s not to like?
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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