Turtle in July

1. Bibliography

Singer, Marilyn. 1989. Turtle in July. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 0027828816

2. Plot Summary

Singer takes the reader through the seasons with a variety of animals as they prepare for winter or sleepily arise in the spring. Starting in winter and ending in winter, the twelve months are traversed through animals such as the bullhead, the Canadian goose, and the turtle, the book's namesake. Coupled with bright watercolor illustrations, the poems take the reader through a year, learning the nature of different animals in each of the four seasons, the bullhead serving as the repeated marker for the changing of the seasons. 

3. Critical Analysis

Each poem explores the nature of different animals as they prepare for or live in each season. From the bullheads burrowing "belly deep in the shallows" for winter to the "March Bear" sleepily waking up from hibernation in the spring, Singer is masterful at depicting the animal's behaviors from the animal's own perspectives. In the "Barn Owl," the sounds of "sweeping" and "swooping" show the owl hunting for mice while in the succeeding poem, "Deer Mouse," the repetition of "get get get" depicts the mouse's fear and need to hurry and hide from the hunting owl. The poems being in the animal's point of view give the reader a sense of what each animal does in their respective season and adds to the impact of the poems. 

The illustrations depict each animal in each season as the "Beavers in November" prepare for winter by building their dens and the "Cat" cuddles up on the couch as it stays warm in December. For each season, Pinkney uses varying colors to capture the essence of each season. For spring, warm and bright colors are used, such as the dog running in "April is a Dog's Dream" in the bright green grass. For winter, neutral tones are used to depict the cold, such as the "January Deer" frolicking through the white and neutral blue snow. The variations in tones of the colors Pinkney uses adds to the transitioning of the seasons throughout the poems, giving the reader beautiful depictions of the fun poems.

4. Review Excerpts

1993 NCTE Adventuring with Books
Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1989
From Publisher's Weekly: "The verse rhythmically echoes the actions of a sleepy March bear or a skittish deer mouse foraging in winter." 

5. Connections

Enjoy more books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney such as: 

• Pinkney, Gloria Jean. Back Home. ISBN 9780140565478
• Kipling, Rudyard. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. ISBN 9780688143206

Have children pick an animal and write a poem from that animal's perspective.