Review: Wow! SO many different turtle and tortoise species to learn about!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2014
Does your child have a school project to write? Just want to learn more about these amazing creatures? Then this, very comprehensive book on turtles, tortoises and terrapins is a great resource. Great pictures (photos and diagrams) and information.So what are some of the interesting facts about turtles from this book?The only backboned animals with shells * Some can live 60-150 years. * Cold-blooded * Reptiles * Over 300 species * No teeth - horny ridges * The shell is made up of about 60 bones * Eggs are soft and rubbery * Leatherneck turtles can swim down to depths of 4000 feet PLUS so much more!Each section talking about a specific turtle has video links.Loggerhead * Leatherback * Hawksbills * Other sea turtlesTrue Tortoises are of the family Testudinidae. Captain Cook gave a tortoise to the royal family of Tonga and it lived for 188 years! Several species mentioned along with video links.Snapping turtles * Softshell turtles * Other notable Turtle SpeciesI like the way the author differentiates between American English and British English. In American English, "turtle" refers to all chelonians (order) but in British English, "turtle" is only used for the sea-dwelling species and "tortoise" is used for the land-dwelling species. Turtles that live in freshwater are called terrapins.Cons: Presented as fact rather than theory that the first ancestor of the turtle appeared 260 million years agoThere is a wealth of information in this book so definitely for the older, inquiring mind.At the end of the book there is a link to all the videos in the book on their website. There is a LOAD of them. We use these books and videos as resources in our homeschool. It saves so much time not having to search through YouTube yourself but parents please be vigilant around your children as sometimes the Google "click" ads that appear on the bottom of the screen are not appropriate for kids. When we are watching I quickly click the X to get rid of it!As mentioned above this book is a comprehensive resource. Recommended from our house to yours!