One Turtle’s Last Straw- front cover, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns. Published by Crown Books for Young Readers.
Elisa Boxer is hitting the children’s book market by storm. She has three books coming out this year! I am honored to provide a review for One Turtle’s Last Straw, the first to come out on May 10th. The book is an illustrated version of a real-life event and would make for a great living book as it takes the reader through the journey of not only a straw but also a sea turtle - our main character.
It all begins with a cup being thrown away and the wind taking the straw for a ride. Unfortunately, it’s not a ride that ends with cheers and smiles.
“Underground, it meanders for miles through a maze of steel pipes, then spits out into a stream, winding its way to the ocean.”
All of the alliterations give this story a touch of poetry. The journey, though resulting in no good, is a song of its own.
Even when we meet the sea turtle. It’s lyrical:
“His front flippers fly him through the water with long , sweeping strokes.”
So beautiful!
BUT - this all changes - the soothing writing and the peaceful ocean environment with the introduction of the trawler net. Now the writing uses hard consonants, short sentences, and many exclamation marks. You feel the sea turtle’s panic.
After being caught by a net, gasping for air, freeing itself, we think our sea turtle is safe. He dives down deep for a meal and as he eats, we learn, he takes in a gulp of seawater and this is when the straw does its damage.
One part of the straw is wedged into his nose and the rest of it is stuck in his throat! This hinders his breathing and sense of smell. Without a good sense of smell, he’s unable to find food. He can’t breathe well either. It really seems like this story will not end happily, until…
“Marine biologists are studying an endangered species: the olive ridley sea turtle. The scientists spot one swimming near the surface. They bring him on board.”
Dr. Christine Figgener is one of the marine biologists on board and after taking a small sample of the object sticking out of the sea turtle’s nose she realizes it’s a straw! Our straw from the first page. The straw the wind took for a ride to the sewer and then a journey through the sewer and down into the ocean. The scientists do their best and manage to take the entire straw out! He can breathe fully again!
It’s at this point that the writing returns to soothing alliteration and Marta Álvarez Miguéns illustrates a beautiful, peaceful sunset for the sea turtle to swim towards.
The backmatter in this book is fantastic! You’ll learn about the actual event that inspired the book. There is an “Author’s Note”, “Kids Taking Action to Tackle Ocean Pollution”, “Bibliography”, and “ Explore Further”. One Turtle’s Last Straw will provide many reads and lots to do afterwards. It’s definitely a stick-with-you story.
One Turtle’s Last Straw comes out on May 10 and is available for pre-order now.