  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 05/15/2016 Who wants a tortoise? Well, certainly not the pigtailed narrator, who has been counting on a puppy for her birthday—picking names, reading books, and ignoring her dad’s allergies. Her birthday present looks promising with holes in the box, but it turns out they are for the titular tortoise. Keane does a great job of presenting the hurt, disappointment, and anger of a child who is watching her long-held dream morph from adorable puppy into stolid reptile. The girl tries to teach the tortoise tricks to no avail, but slowly (about as slowly as the tortoise moves) she begins to enjoy her pet. And when the tortoise escapes, she experiences real feelings of loss. The happy ending allows the girl to finally pick out a name for the tortoise: Rover. Campbell’s art, similar in feel to Sophie Blackall’s illustrations, has great charm and appeal and serves the clever story admirably, extending and polishing each plot point. Whether this will make kids prefer tortoises over puppies remains to be seen. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. Loading...
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