The true and lucky life of a turtle

Resilience forms the backbone of this heartening new collaboration between Montgomery and Patterson (The Book of Turtles), which spotlights the real-life story of a snapping turtle named Fire Chief. From ping-pong-ball-size egg to quarter-size baby to full-grown adult who's the weight of a lawn mower, the starring reptile is presented as the beneficiary of incredible lifelong luck. Science-oriented storytelling offers informed guesses about Fire Chief's early years, leading up to his arrival at a rural fire station's heart-shaped pond, where he's eventually spotted sunning on a log. Time passes--underscoring the species' incredible longevity--and the slow-moving animal's luck comes to an end during an annual migration across a former country lane that's been developed into a state highway. Luckily, people from the Turtle Rescue League arrive with a plan for rehabilitation, including a special wheelchair, and "human friends" eventually create a new, safer aquatic abode that requires no further road crossings--"What a lucky turtle!" The book's artist, revealed to own the property on which Fire Chief lives, clearly has firsthand knowledge of the subject, relayed via intricate, hyper-realistic paintings that lend an appropriately documentary feel to this uplifting tale. Human background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. More about Fire Chief and resources conclude. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)

In a previous collaboration (The Book of Turtles, rev. 7/23), Montgomery and Patterson briefly featured a large snapping turtle, a.k.a. Fire Chief. Now Fire Chief gets a starring role in his own tale, told with a storyteller's cadence, which traces approximately sixty years of his life from birth to the present. Realistic illustrations mirror the brief chronological text in this accessible account. The turtle's first years are lucky ones. After evading predators at birth, he settles in a pond next to a fire station (the provenance of his name). Over the next ten years or so, he expands his surroundings to include a second pond located across a rural road, where he spends each winter. He's lucky in making this twice-annual journey, until he's not: a truck strikes the turtle, gravely injuring him. Two women who run the Turtle Rescue League repair his shell and give him physical therapy to strengthen his legs. When he is ready to be reintroduced into his pond, there are still questions: can he survive crossing the road twice a year? Can any turtle? Human habitat encroachment causes Fire Chief's problem, but human concern and persistence find a solution for him. Back matter details the work of the Rescue League, provides information on handling injured turtles in the wild, adds more information about these reptiles, and includes a bibliography. Betty CarterSeptember/October 2025 p.88 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Sibert Honor--winning creators ofThe Book of Turtles (2023) recount the true story of a snapping turtle whom they both had a hand in rescuing. The chronological account of Fire Chief's life begins with a dramatic spread--his mother lays her eggs near a tree with giant roots that both shelter and appear poised to walk away. Child-friendly descriptions make clear the vulnerabilities of the newborn turtle, who was "almost as small as a quarter--so small that even a fish could swallow him." Montgomery gently folds in the notion of his being "lucky" for having survived such challenges as predators and a road he must cross to reach his winter pond. As the town changes, Fire Chief's road becomes a highway, leading to his pivotal "unlucky" collision with a car. The Turtle Rescue League tends to his wounds, builds him a wheelchair for indoor exercise, and gives him time to grow strong. Montgomery asks a crucial question: "Would he be fast enough to beat whizzing cars? Is any turtle?" The mostly white-presenting rescuers and local wildlife lovers come up with an ingenious solution; the backmatter reveals Montgomery and Patterson's own involvement in the story--a poignant surprise. Patterson's lifelike illustrations pour love on the book's star: Fire Chief's penetrating orange-brown eyes and bemused smile charm, while the folds of skin on his legs and chin look like landscape portraits in and of themselves. In the annals of true animal rescue tales, this one delights and uplifts. (further information about Fire Chief and snapping turtles, photographs, resources)(Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.