So Tortoise Dug
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
From the creator of While You’re Asleep comes a hilarious pourquoi story about a burrowing tortoise and her mouse best friend—as well as mishaps, misunderstandings, and the friendships you make along the way.
Tortoise and Mouse are more than just friends and burrowmates. They are best friends and best burrowmates. When their home gets flooded, however, it’s up to Tortoise to dig them a new place to live. And so she digs a room of her own and a room for Mouse. But where is Mouse?
Noticing the fresh burrow, Bunny asks Tortoise if she could dig a room for her as well. Then the Spotted Skunk. The Mole Skinks. And the Wolf Spider, the Frog, and those moths…So Tortoise digs. Seemingly everyone else wants to be her burrowmate except for Mouse—where did she go?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tortoise loves to dig, but Mouse, Tortoise's burrowmate and friend, prefers to lounge while sipping tea. After their home floods, they determine that Tortoise will create a new burrow, and then the two will play. When Tortoise is finished, though, Mouse is gone, and more animals appear, asking Tortoise to dig rooms for them. In a sequence that holds most of the story's energy, Tortoise obliges—over and over again—while worrying about Mouse's return. Kastner (While You're Asleep) works in digitally finished multimedia spreads that carry a strong retro vibe. The growing burrow is shown in cross-section, the new rooms listed as they pile up ("a cool pad for the mole skinks, a place for the spotted skunk to rest"). Then the new members of the community also disappear. Though Mouse's reappearance brings some comfort, Tortoise's growing distress overshadows a friendly end reveal. An author's note, which states that the gopher tortoise and the Florida mouse are real-world roommates, describes this work as a "pourquoi tale" ("a fictional explanation of why something is the way that it is"), but the story leaves lingering questions about why the animals cohabitate. Ages 4–8.
