"Turtle in July" by Marilyn Singer

Bibliography

Singer, Marilyn. (1989). Turtle in July. New York, NY: Macmillian Publishing Company. ISBN: 0-02-782881-6

Summary

This is a collection of poems that follow various animals through the months of the year. Each of the poems focuses on one animal associated with the weather of that particular month.

Review

I will be honest here. I did not immediately read the poems in this book. My daughter and I flipped through to enjoy the lovely and surprisingly vivid illustrations. They were very entertaining all on their own!
The first thing I noticed upon actually reading this book was that the Bullhead poems (Winter, Spring, Summer & Autumn) all follow the same concrete pattern.  The pattern of the poems causes you to pause and emphasize just the right words so that the result is a fish reciting the poem in your head. All of the poems in this collection use a similar strategy to force the reader to become the subject of the poem just for a little while.

                For the cows, the oo sound is repeated through out the poem. Words like chew, room, roof, too and June appear multiple times, mimicking the “moo” sound. The rattlesnake poem naturally has a continuous alliteration of the “s” and “sh” sound, much like the hissing of a snake. Generally, the author did a wonderful job of designing the poems around each of the animals they represent.

                Not only does this book entertain the reader, it also serves the purpose of teaching various poetic language tactics like alliteration, repetition, rhythm and rhyme. Each of the poems also functions as a mini-lesson about the animal it represents. It teaches readers a few facts about the animal, wrapped up in a fun sounding poem.

                This collection is sure to be a hit among young and emerging readers. The repetition allows them to participate even if they cannot read the poems fluently, or at all, yet!

Awards

1989 New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year