Tortoises were typically portrayed as wise and humble creatures in the many stories I have read and heard, which was why I was surprised to discover that the selfish, cunning, and over-confident main character is a tortoise.
The first sentence of the story states, “Long, long ago, Mbeku the tortoise had a magnificent shell” and it is later stated that Mbeku “was so handsome, he thought he deserved the lion’s share of everything.” Later in the story, several birds take revenge and cause his beautiful shell to break into a million pieces and Mbeku hides in his newly made, but hideous shell from embarrassment. Although it isn’t clear, the moral of the story seems to be that appearance can only get you so far into the game and it is the personality and heart that truly enable an individual to achieve fellowship. It is because of this message that I have come to appreciate the book’s functional use “to teach children accepted norms and mores of society.” I also appreciate how the author and illustrator incorporated Igbonian names and settings to support the origin of the story. However, I found the ending confusing and incomplete, which caused disappointment in the plot of the story. ( )

Mbeku, a trickster tortoise, convinces birds to help him build his own pair of wings so that he can fly. ( )

The story contains distinctive characters and progressive action, but the story doesn't resolve conflicts in a positive manner. This results with a book that does not share any moralistic life lessons. For example, the lizard Ngwee always aids the conniving character Mbeku and the birds always get fooled by Mbkeu's tricks. Ngwee never overcomes being taken advantage of by never standing up for herself. After spending an entire rainy season patching up a shattered turtle shell with no appreciation received fro Mbeku, Ngwele says, "Its a miracle I managed to patch it up at all". Ngwele is exhasted, weary, and weak. This doesn't teach self-respect. The birds get fooled by Mbeku twice and decide to seek revenge. They carry out their plan of vengeance successfully and celebrate with laughter. This teaches that seeking revenge is the right thing to do and will make you happy.

The turtle Mbeku tricked the birds into making him wings so he can fly with them to visit the Skylanders up in the sky. He pronounced himself as king and made sure he was the only one who ate the food at the feast. The birds retaliate by throwing his wings off the cliff. Therefore, Mbeku can not fly back down to earth. Mbeku tricked them into thinking he was sincerely sorry and asked them to tell Ngwele to make a soft landing for him so he can return to earth. After finding out he was tricking them again, they sought revenge a second time by telling Ngwele to "gather all the hardest things you can find and build a huge pile in the clearing". Mbeku ends up landing in the hard pile and his shell shattered into a million pieces. The birds are proud of tricking Mbeku, which is a terrible message to share with children. The book needs a positive message to share but it doesn't contain one. The big message of the story is to seek revenge every time someone does something wrong against you. The book started off with a good storyline, but it needs a stronger resolution and ending. ( )

This story of how a turtle's shell came to look the way that it did was nicely illustrated, though I have to say that I'm not that big a fan of the turtle. He kind of played the villain that never got his comeuppance. Meanwhile, his friend, the lizard, never got any kind of appreciation and yet he stayed the nasty turtle's friend through it all. I would have preferred the lizard to turn his back on the turtle after all the grief that the turtle put him through, but I guess sometimes you have to roll with the punches. Still, it illustrates another cultures folk tales and that is always an enriching experience. ( )

While I really enjoyed the story about a tortoise who did wrong to others. I must say that the ending seemed incomplete, But it was still quite humorous. ( )