School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Turtle is a dreamer, a deep thinker, and is somewhat particular. In choosing a color to freshen his walls, he contemplates the best green to match: "Not as bright as grass or lily shoot. But also not as dark as evergreen, or, say, envy." To use the leftover paint, he adds a deck to the exterior. As often happens in decorating, one thing leads to another. He imagines inviting neighbors to toast marshmallows, so he needs a fireplace. That necessitates wood, requiring trees. Soon there is a library, skating rink, and wax museum. Chien's ever-transforming acrylic, pencil, and collage compositions are well suited to the protagonist's fanciful vision. While Turtle's world starts in darkness, he is eventually constructing under a sky dotted with O'Keeffe-like clouds and gliding past lily pads in a pond worthy of Monet. While resting, his dreams about friends moving to town are rendered in vivid bursts of expressionistic forms. A gatefold opening reveals the vertical city in all its resplendent glory. Washed in blue, the denouement reveals cozy bedtime rituals. Perhaps that's what Turtle wanted all along-someone to call to in the dark. -VERDICT Elegant language, childlike logic, and enthralling art invite readers into a marvelous community.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Turtle lives on his own planet in the middle of a lonely galaxy. With only his shadow to talk to, he decides "to make some renovations to his shell." Chien's dreamlike mixed-media images move from grays to bright colors as Turtle imagines a village of houses that she draws with wobbly splashes of lime, lavender, and fuchsia. Back in the waking world, Turtle orders paint, builds a deck, and installs a fireplace, garden, and pond atop his shell, and soon there's a library and ice rink, too. They're all rendered in expressionist spreads, drawn not for laughs but with a sense of wonder. Turtle's tower of creations teeters precariously above his planet, and soon everybody wants to visit. A giraffe, a whale in a mobile aquarium, a painter, a sailor, and others move in, and an exuberant vertical gatefold celebrates the new community, where all seems possible and every living thing is welcome. Ages 4-7. Author's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.