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Sea Turtles

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Dive into the world's oceans to explore the adventurous lives of one of the oldest living animals.

Descended from enormous prehistoric creatures, sea turtles are fascinating. Hatched from eggs smaller than a baseball, some can grow to weigh over a thousand pounds. Once adults, they can live to be around 100 years old. And when it's time to nest, they migrate more than 1,000 miles. 

With colorful, clear illustrations and straightforward text, Gail Gibbons introduces the eight kinds of sea turtles living in the ocean today. Learn the similarities and differences with labeled diagrams and experience the hatching of the tiny turtle babies with detailed illustrations. This updated edition now includes the most up-to-date information about these beloved reptiles, as reviewed by an expert vetter in the field of herpetology.

Sea Turtles also gives young readers an accessible overview of how the lives of these large reptiles have become threatened and discusses the conservation efforts currently taking place. Ideal for aspiring oceanographers, this brightly-illustrated book is a perfect introduction to the subject.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

96 people want to read

About the author

Gail Gibbons

225 books162 followers
From gailgibbons.com: I was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1944. Even as a little child, I was always busy putting books together. Sometimes I would bind them with yarn to hold the pages together. I've always loved drawing and painting. I was also a very curious child. My parents tell me that I was always asking lots and lots of questions.

Later, I went on to the University of Illinois, where I studied graphic design. Then I moved to New York City, where I got a job doing artwork for television shows. Eventually I was asked to do the artwork for a children's show. While doing that show, some of the children asked me if I had ever thought of doing children's books. My mind immediately recalled how much I enjoyed doing that type of thing when I was a child. So I put an idea for a book together and right away a publisher bought it. That book was called Willy and His Wheel Wagon. Since then, over 170 books that I have written and illustrated have been published. The type of books I write are non-fiction books. This is because I love researching so much. I get to ask lots of questions, just like when I was a kid. I also get to travel and meet lots of interesting people. While doing research for my book Nature's Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests, I traveled to two islands where there are tropical rain forests, Saba and Dominica. I also had a great time writing and illustrating the book. I get a lot of pleasure from doing the type of work I do.

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5 stars
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39 (25%)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Christy.
Author 16 books67 followers
October 19, 2020
Dive into the world's oceans to explore the adventurous lives of one of the oldest living animals.

Descended from enormous prehistoric creatures, sea turtles are fascinating. Hatched from eggs smaller than a baseball, some can grow to weigh over a thousand pounds. Once adults, they can live to be around 100 years old. And when it's time to nest, they migrate more than 1,000 miles.

With colorful, clear illustrations and straightforward text, Gail Gibbons introduces the eight kinds of sea turtles living in the ocean today. Learn the similarities and differences with labeled diagrams and experience the hatching of the tiny turtle babies with detailed illustrations. This updated edition now includes the most up-to-date information about these beloved reptiles, as reviewed by an expert vetter in the field of herpetology.

Sea Turtles also gives young readers an accessible overview of how the lives of these large reptiles have become threatened and discusses the conservation efforts currently taking place. Ideal for aspiring oceanographers, this brightly-illustrated book is a perfect introduction to the subject.
Profile Image for Viviana.
941 reviews
July 6, 2024
4.9 stars
Written a lil back then, so maybe not alerting the reader to the distraction of house lights being a problem might not of been known..idk. it's lovely and informative, though and I like turles
437 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2020
Gail Gibbons' books always do a great job of educating about a topic with lots of picture supports. Her books also serve as good mentor texts when teaching nonfiction writing.
Profile Image for Sarah Wilson.
876 reviews4 followers
May 18, 2023
This quite possibly is the best book on sea turtles that I’ve read for kids. Informative but not overwhelming. And the illustrations are AWESOME!
Profile Image for Heather.
1,081 reviews77 followers
June 9, 2008
I'm going to say it again. Close your eyes if you don't want to see it. I LOVE GAIL GIBBONS. This book was fabulous.

She discusses several different sea turtles and provides enough information to really understand them. The illustrations were great, but add some real pictures too.

We spent so much time learning about sea turtles after this. It really sparked a desire to know more so we'd read about a turtle from this book, then go find out more about. Come back to this book for another turtle, and off we'd go again.

This is another book that the kids spent hours looking through. You must read this book if you have any interest at all in sea turtles. Even if you don't, you might want to read it because you just may develop an interest in them. And then your life will be complete.
Profile Image for LAWonder10.
953 reviews739 followers
June 16, 2013
The author makes a stark claim these turtles
have been around for millions of years. There
is no possible way she can know that. Yes, there
may be some fossils but for some, the belief those
fossils can be distorted or created with matter
from other destroyed planets.
However, I never realized sea turtles were so different
than those on land. I, also, never realized there was so
many different types. This was interesting and the
photographs were OK. They were at least colorful and
gave the reader an idea of how they look.
104 reviews
Read
April 19, 2012
Science Fiction:
This book would be great when teaching children about sea turtles. It talks about how they live, their habitat, what they eat, why they travel and anything you can think of about sea turtles. This book is great for younger grades. However, when teaching students about classifications and habitats in the upper grades, this would work as well. It is classified as fiction because of the illustrations and the narrative style of the writing.
53 reviews2 followers
Read
April 8, 2014
Sea Turtles by Gail Gibbons is a great book about sea turtles. In the text ,the author uses in depth illustration and great information about these sea creatures. She uses a great job informing the reader on their habitats, what they eat and their habitat. I would use this book in my classroom during science. Sea Turtles would be a great way to introduce students to cold blooded animals or reptiles.
27 reviews
October 7, 2016
This story is more of a book about sea turtles. It starts off by discussing what exactly sea turtles are and some of their characteristics. It teaches the students how many different types of sea turtles there are and how and what they eat. The book provides a lot of pictures to show the readers what sea turtles and their habitat look like.
Profile Image for Mallory White.
100 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2013
Great book to share about reptiles and different characteristics. They are cold blooded animals and they have many different types of species. You could use if you are doing a unit about ocean and different types of environments.
Profile Image for Krista.
51 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2010
This informational picture book is a great resource on sea turtles. It is a great example to use during a study of author's purpose for a writing that is meant to inform.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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