How Turtle Got His Shell

Delightful retellings of turtle tales from around the world, plus fun facts about turtles, are sure to please all turtle fans.

Long ago when Turtle was just a little green creature, he had to hide from everyone because he had no shell. Then one day when Nanabosho wasn't having much luck fishing, Turtle helped out by telling Nanabosho where all the fish were. Nanabosho was so grateful that, as a reward, he fashioned a shell from a round stone to protect Turtle from any harm.

Relates how Honu, a daring Hawaiian sea turtle, becomes the first turtle to have a shell.

Now in paperback. How did turtle get his shell? Why do young koalas cling to their mothers' backs? How was the mighty Murray River created? Ten witty retellings of legends, some of them from the Yorta Yorta people, to delight readers of all ages.

Trundling along in essentially the same form for some 220 million years, turtles have seen dinosaurs come and go, mammals emerge, and humankind expand its dominion. Is it any wonder the persistent reptile bested the hare? In this engaging book physiologist Donald Jackson shares a lifetime of observation of this curious creature, allowing us a look under the shell of an animal at once so familiar and so strange. Here we discover how the turtle’s proverbial slowness helps it survive a long, cold winter under ice. How the shell not only serves as a protective home but also influences such essential functions as buoyancy control, breathing, and surviving remarkably long periods without oxygen, and how many other physiological features help define this unique animal. Jackson offers insight into what exactly it’s like to live inside a shell—to carry the heavy carapace on land and in water, to breathe without an expandable ribcage, to have sex with all that body armor intervening. Along the way we also learn something about the process of scientific discovery—how the answer to one question leads to new questions, how a chance observation can change the direction of study, and above all how new research always builds on the previous work of others. A clear and informative exposition of physiological concepts using the turtle as a model organism, the book is as interesting for what it tells us about scientific investigation as it is for its deep and detailed understanding of how the enduring turtle “works.”

Performing Arts

An irresistibly cute story about finding the confidence to be yourself, starring a turtle in search of the perfect shell. Terrance the turtle was born without a shell, so he uses a cardboard box instead. Terrance loves his box. It keeps him dry on soggy days, safe from snooping strangers, and is big enough to cozy up with a friend. But when another turtle points out that Terrance's shell is, well, weird, he begins to wonder whether there might be a better shell out there... Eventually, and through much trial and error, Terrance learns that there's nothing wrong with being different--especially when it comes to being yourself.