I had no idea turtles can hibernate underwater all winter. I was looking for more info and found this great article about how turtles can breathe through their butts. http://theconversation.com/the-secret-to-turtle-hibernation-butt-breathing-86727

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This set out to be a sweet but straightforward picture book experience, and then! plot twist in the middle, and it's all kinds of awwwwwwww. Awesome illustrations, great storyline, great pet turtle action. Altogether delightful! ( )

On the Monarch Award: Illinois' K-3 Children's Choice Award selection list for 2020.

The picture on the cover is a great example of the wonderful art throughout the book. And the author/illustrator did a great job in giving the turtle a wonderful, bright, happy personality which I think is the best part of this story.

Nia gets Alfie for her 6th birthday and they both celebrate because Alfie is 6 too! The first part of the book tells about Nia's life and how she tries to include Alfie in all her activities...but turtles are not very active and she finally loses interest in him when her next birthday is approaching. The second half of the book tells the same story from Alfie's viewpoint which is much different. He loves Nia and wants to show her how much by getting her a special present. Alfie escapes from his tank to go looking for the perfect present and ends up on a crazy adventure that lasts a very long time...because when he returns Nia is celebrating her 8th birthday (see the illustration with the birthday balloon).

Great book to talk about turtles as pets, what they need, what they do and don't do including hibernating.

Great pairing with the juvenile fiction title for older readers -- Bartleby of the Mighty Mississippi by Phyllis Shalant -- which can be read aloud to younger readers. ( )

This picture book absolutely made me do a doubletake and then I laughed and laughed!

The story begins with a little girl with dark skin and crinkly hair telling about how she got Alfie on her sixth birthday. Although at first she spends lots of time with him, when Alfie doesn't respond she gradually loses interest and on her seventh birthday he disappears. This sad news is followed by a stark white page with the little girl and Alfie on opposite pages, smudged in shadow.

Then the story flips and Alfie is telling the story of how he met Nia. (I thought at first the story was repeating and then - doubletake!) Little does Nia know, but he's been appreciating her all along, loving her presents and wanting to show her how much he likes her. On her seventh birthday he sets out to find a present and after various advice ends up outside where he falls asleep in the pond. Waking up in spring, he wakes up just in time to find a present for Nia's birthday, happy that he's made it in time and they are seven together.

Of course, the joke is that time just moves to slowly for Alfie he hasn't realized he's lost a year! The author's note talks about her own Alfie and how she lost interest but he was there when she came back and rediscovered how interesting turtles are. The final page shows the smudged shadows of Nia and Alfie, together again.

This is a pitch-perfect story on so many levels. It has an unusual pet, a very realistic child who loses interest and then rediscovers her friend, subtle bits of humor throughout, and a beautifully and lovingly drawn African-American family.

Verdict: A delightful addition for storytime or your pet collections. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781419725296; Published 2017 by Abrams; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

On her sixth birthday, Nia gets a turtle named Alfie. On her seventh birthday, Alfie disappears. Then there's a flip in perspective, and the reader gets Alfie's side of the story: he's gone to find a birthday present for Nia. He eventually finds the perfect gift, and arrives just in time for Nia's (eighth) birthday. Tender, funny, realistic illustrations accompany this story of a first pet, and how people show (or don't show) their feelings in different ways.

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Re-read May 2019

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Re-read July 2020 ( )