Turtle Tide: The Ways of Sea Turtles

by Stephen R. Swinburne, Bruce Hiscock (Illustrator)

A mother turtle swims to shore. She digs a hole in a dune where she lays one hundred eggs. Following her instinct, she covers the eggs with sand and slowly makes her way back to sea. What happens next, from eggs to hatchlings, is one of the most extraordinary occurrences in nature. For the eggs provide food for other animals, and the eggs that survive produce hatchlings that, again, provide food for birds and crabs. Even those hatchlings that make it to the ocean face an uncertain future. Lyrical text and dramatic paintings give young readers an understanding of how turtles give birth and how the young fight for survival in this winner of the Maryland Blue Crab Young Readers' Award.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Steve was born in London, England. He holds a BA degree in Biology and English from Castleton State College in Vermont. He has worked as a ranger in a number of national parks and is the author of over 30 children's books. His extensive travels to faraway lands such as Africa and treks through Yellowstone have all influenced his book projects. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published Steve’s book Sea Turtle Scientist in 2014. His most recent title is from Scholastic and entitled Safe in a Storm, a comforting read-aloud story, where all the animals find cozy places to keep them safe and warm. Steve visits nearly a hundred schools a year across the United States as well as many international schools. He lives in Vermont with his wife Heather, two dogs named Scout and Jem, and a cat named Skittles.

Reviews

[Courtney Raymer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal Response: I didn't really like this book as much for an informational book choice. It is more of a narrative with facts within the story which I don't think would teach students much of anything. The sentences are also pretty difficult with a lot of writing on each page. The one thing I did like about this book was the images were very detailed and brought a lot of life to this book. Also in the end there were facts about certain types of sea turtles that I wish was more throughout the book.

Purpose:
-read aloud: This book I believe is too difficult for children to read on their own, a teacher would have to read this out loud and ask a lot of questions throughout because there is so much reading that I wouldn't want the students to get confused. A good activity would be that since there are facts within the story you could ask students to pull out facts they find on each page or something learned on each page. The story is easy to follow but I don't feel like it really informs students as much as it should. I would also use this book for curricular reasons for a science unit on sea turtles. Each student could be assigned a kind of sea turtle from the back of the book and they could research it.
-non-fiction: This book falls under the non-fiction category because it is teaching students about a concept in the natural habitat. The only aspect of non-fiction I saw was in the back of the book they had an information page dealing with different types of sea turtles and they talked about them and also general sea turtle facts. The images depicted sea turtles in very real life but I wish they informed more than they were show.
-This book can teach children plot because it does follow the life of a sea turtle and there is a story line. This way they can retell the story or do a sequencing project

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so sad! I guess I came into it expecting something different. Not for my three year olds.

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast-paced, informative tale of sea turtle hatchlings.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turtle Tide could be categorized as an informational picture book. While it's size, shape, and text make it appear a picture book at first glance, the information provided through the story makes it more informational in nature. Turtle Tide tells the story of a female sea turtle who comes ashore to lay her eggs. After the babies hatch there are many animals interested in them for food. As various animals take the baby turtles away to eat the original 100 eggs slowly dwindles in number, until only one baby turtle remains. While the story does a good job explaining the laying and hatching of eggs, followed by the precarious trip to the ocean by the baby turtles, there is not much more information provided about sea turtles in general. There is a two page spread about sea turtles in the back of the book, as well as suggested reading. Younger children may be disturbed by the focus on baby turtles being taken for food by animals. The illustrations are well done and appropriate but unless you are a sea turtle lover this is not a must have in your collection.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, this book is no longer easily found, and is probably out of print but if your library has a copy and you are doing a unit on Sea Turtles I would suggest picking it up. It is worth picking up for the illustrations alone which do a nice job of providing young readers with the idea of what happens when a female sea turtle comes ashore to lay eggs and then the process of the hatchlings trying to make it to sea. Swinburne's Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientist in the Field Series) came out earlier in 2014 and this would of course pair nicely with it. Turtle Tide would be a narrative fiction story or even informational text for 2nd to 4th graders. The end notes and sources are limited.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts with a mother turtle laying eggs. She lays 100 eggs, but in the end, only one will survive! The poor little buggers get snacked on by everything from raccoons to ghost crabs to sea birds. If you are looking to show how difficult it is for animals to survive or want to illustrate food chains, this would be one to use. If you are looking for general info about sea turtles, try One Tiny Turtle by Davies or Into the Sea by Guiberson.

[Saba N Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of a sea turtle is not easy. It is amazing how from one hundred eggs, only one turtle survives to start its journey to sea and life. This book would be great for classroom use when learning about the life cycle of sea turtles. The text is suitable for reading to children or for children slightly older children to read on their own while researching sea turtles. It is told in story form but very informational.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it but it made me sad to think so few of the babies survive. I know that is life and how it is, but dang, do you have to have them picked off like that?
I know everybody has got to eat but those little turtles are so cute and they have feelings too. :( The facts were great and the illustrations were great though.

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read-aloud... beautiful illustrations, informative text, and the awful ongoing subtraction problem as 99 of 100 eggs get eaten by various predators.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures, excellent description of the life cycle of turtles. 1/100 young turtles makes it to sea.

[Kimbra Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this, I had kids crying in 4th grade as I read it aloud. A great book to discuss life cycles, empathy, struggle... well done Steve