Note: If I have italicized a large amount of text, it is because it is directly from the publisher description.
Turtles are cute, turtles are fun. And when you read about Yoshi, you’ll want one!
Okay, you cannot have a loggerhead turtle for several reasons, but you can learn about one special one in Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle’s Incredible Journey Home. In this longer picture book, we follow a young turtle from the time they were caught and injured in a fishing boat net to the day something clicked in her to move on. The problem is, by this time, Yoshi was in captivity for twenty years. Would a “human raised” turtle survive in the wild?
Lindsay Moore takes you through the ins and outs of the recovery of Yoshi, from being rescued by Japanese fishermen in 1997, to living in the Cape Town, South African rehabilitation center, to the 25,000-mile journey she would take to go back to the land of her birth. We see how Yoshi grew (and grew!) and became on of the most popular exhibit at the center. When it was decided to release Yoshi back into the wild, we then see how she was prepared for the trip. A tracking device was placed on her shell and the over thousand-day’s journey started. Scientists and people from all the world watched.
The gorgeous watercolors of the illustrations, also by Moore, is the icing on the cake. These images are fameworthy. The are richly colored and detailed. They show the themes conservation, oceanography, natural selection, the food chain, currents, geography along with the story of Yoshi.
Great for the classroom, it might not be the best for individual one-on-one reading, but great for anyone interested in nature, oceans, or turtles. While all ages can enjoy the illustrations and some of the story, it is better for older children.
Includes a map of Yoshi’s journey, information about sea turtles and how you can help them, and additional resources