Myrtle the Purple Turtle

Written by Cynthia Reyes
Illustrated by Jo Robinson
Published in 2017

Why we chose this book:
When I was in grade school, I had to do a project on turtles. For a visual aid, my dad carved a soap turtle that we name Myrtle the Turtle. So, the title of this book caught my eye, and the description of a character accepting her difference appealed. The author offered us a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Mom's Review

A talking purple turtle becomes self-conscious before accepting her coloring.

At the beginning of the book, Myrtle thinks nothing of her purple color. When another turtle teases her, however, she tries to dye herself green. Her thought-sequence is clearly explained, which could help a young audience process similar feelings. Mytle's friends respond to her identity crisis with love, she accepts herself, but there is no resolution with the teasing turtle.

Although T is not old enough to have experienced teasing, he understands that our actions can affect others' feelings; Myrtle the Purple Turtle was a good springboard for such a dialogue. In asking T questions for his portion of the review, I found that he didn't understand why one turtle would be mean. We then discussed why someone might be mean, and how we can respond to mean behavior, and how we should try to act even when we feel like being mean. Although T doesn't identify with the turtles, this was useful in discussing compassionate actions and reactions.

Son's Review
(age 3 years)

Mom: What was this turtle book about?

Son: Myrtle the Purple Turtle.

Mom: Was there a problem?

Son: That that other turtle was being mean to her.

Mom: How should the other turtle have been?

Son: Niiiice

Mom: How did you feel reading the book? Why?

Son: Bad because that turtle was being not nice to that turtle.

Mom: And did you feel sad for the whole book or did you ever feel happy?

Son: I feeled happy when she made herself green.

Mom: What would you do if you met Myrtle? Would you say anything to her?

Son: I would give her a big hug. I would say I have your own book now.

Mom: Did you learn anything from this book?

Son: I learned that you should be nice to animals.

Mom: What about people?

Son: You should be nice to people too.

Mom: Was there anything you didn't understand in the book?

Son: I didn't understand why that turtle was not being nice to Myrtle. Turtles be nice to other turtles but that turtle wasn't being nice to Myrtle the Purple Turtle. That was confusing to me.