Official Review: Mr Tortoise and Mr Serpent

[ciecheesemeister]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mr Tortoise and Mr Serpent" by Gloria Garcia.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Serpent is a children’s book written by Gloria Garcia and illustrated by Jayan Augustin. Mr. Tortoise is taking a leisurely walk down the path to the schoolhouse when he encounters Mr. Serpent wrapped around a tree. Mr. Serpent is very arrogant. He believes himself to be the cleverest of animals. He brags about himself while trying to take Mr. Tortoise off guard by belittling him. Mr. Serpent attempts to make a meal of Mr. Tortoise by constricting him. However, Mr. Serpent is unable to constrict Mr. Tortoise because of Mr. Tortoise’s hard shell.

Although Mr. Serpent unsuccessfully tries to make a meal of him and continues insulting him, Mr. Tortoise is slow to anger and as Mr. Serpent follows him along the path to the schoolhouse, the two animals learn lessons from and about each other and become friends.

The target audience for the book is ages 4-7, but I believe that middle-grade readers would enjoy reading the story to themselves and would benefit from the lessons it teaches. The colorful pictures bring the characters to life. It is wonderful to watch a friendship form between Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Serpent, who are very dissimilar in both appearance and manner, and yet discover that they have several things in common.

In truth, I think that this story provides positive lessons for people of all ages. I learned a few things from the story myself. I have always lacked confidence because I am not pretty and because I have the sort of physique that makes people think it is okay to make cruel remarks about me. I have physical disabilities and do not move quickly. I have ADHD and have been branded with such labels as “flaky,” “selfish,” and “stupid.” Mr. Tortoise reinforced the idea that one does not need to be beautiful or able-bodied or the “right” kind of intelligent to make worthwhile contributions in life.

Mr. Tortoise did not allow Mr. Serpent’s diatribe regarding his appearance, his speed, or his intelligence to make him lose his temper and lash out at Mr. Serpent or to internalize Mr. Serpent’s unkind words. Having confidence in his own strengths, even if those strengths were not readily apparent, allowed Mr. Tortoise to maintain his composure.

I give Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Serpent four out of four stars. This is a marvelous story, and there was nothing I disliked about it except for the fact that the ending came too soon. I believe that the book was professionally edited. I thought that there was one repeated error, but the “misused” word was deliberate. The play on words is explained in the tale.

I hope to see more of Mr. Tortoise and Mr. Serpent in the future!

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Mr Tortoise and Mr Serpent
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[Joan642]

Seeing that this book is a children's book, I appreciate the fact that the author was able to add colourful pictures to make it more appealing to them. Thanks for the amazing review.

[Hazel Arnaiz]

Having confidence in his own strengths, even if those strengths were not readily apparent, allowed Mr. Tortoise to maintain his composure.

Very insightful. We are more at peace if we know ourselves. Thank you for the review.

[Luluwa79]

Having a high self esteem is very beneficial as it gives us peace of mind.
Thanks for the review and summary.

[yanibasil99]

Sounds like this would be a good book to read to my niece before she sleeps at night. Thank you for this book review. It was very enticing! I'll definitely get a copy of the book.

[Bertha Jackson]

Any book that can instill confidence should be shared. Thank you for your review.

[Joyous2]

This seems like a book for my kids. Its interesting & can learn some morals in real life situations