Birtle and the Purple Turtles - Tara J. Hannon - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Tara J. Hannon
GENRE: Children's Graphic Novel
RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A cute little graphic novel for little chapter book readers. Loved the characters and the message. Definitely recommended!


Story Synopsis:
Tootie the turtle loves to play tag, but all the other turtles in Turtletown prefer their own pastimes. Tootie feels quite lonesome, until Teeny comes into her life… almost literally.
Teeny loves tag, and she also loves her one best friend Tootie. But she somehow senses that she doesn’t fit in Turtletown. Can she continue to be friends with Tootie even if she … gasp…. isn’t a turtle?


There are plenty of reasons to invest in this graphic novel for the little ones in your life.

🐢 What child doesn’t love a book with animal characters?

🐦 And these characters break stereotypes! Turtles who love tag? Why not?!

🐢 The storyline is really sweet, and perfect for the target age group of 6-10 years.

🐦 The connection between Tootie and Teeny is amazing. Their bond sets friendship goals as they demonstrate what good and supportive friendships should be like.

🐢 The storyline is linear but is divided in three chapters. This helps in easy breaks in between. The book would thus work well for beginner readers who are exploring chapter books through independent reading.

🐦 The plot offers plenty of discussion worthy points, if it is to be used in a classroom. Tootie and Teeny are both misfits in their own way. This shows that not everyone “feels out of place” in the same way. There can be various types of misfits, and this story teaches them to be comfortable in their own skin. It also highlights how people of different backgrounds can still be friends.

🐢 Furthermore, there are plenty of alliterative words in the book, mostly beginning from ‘T’. A wonderful way of learning alliteration. The title also helps in understanding rhyming words. There are some “created” words as well in the content, à la Roald Dahl.

🐦 The illustrations are also pretty cute, though a tad too cartoonish, which kids might like. The artwork is in exactly the same colour palette as the cover indicates.


The only major negative for me was that the turtles in the book are actually tortoises! Their rounded shells, their land-based habitat, and their rounded legs all confirm this. Of course, tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. I wish the book had included a page to highlight the difference between these two species, otherwise children would assume all turtles to be land-dwelling herbivores with dome-like shells.

Other than the above, this is a lovely story about how to be comfortable in your own skin (or shell, or feathers.)

Much recommended to little readers looking for a super-duper story with a marvellous message. This debut work gets a turtletastic thumbs-up from me.

My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Birtle and the Purple Turtles”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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