Children’s Book Review ” Yertle The Turtle” Dr. Seuss

Yertle the turtle is the king of the pond in Salamasond. He’s a rather egotistical ruler who commands all his turtles to create a living throne. When a turtle named Mack voices his concerns about the way the turtles are being treated, the turtle king brushes him off and demands even more turtles. Eventually, Mack burps and the whole turtle throne falls with Yertle landing face down in the mud. 

This is one of my two year old son’s favorite stories. For one thing, what little boy doesn’t like turtles? My son loves them. So, turtles for the win there. 

Dr. Seuss definitely had a talent of telling a story in just the right way to capture a child’s attention and imagination. The rhyming and silly names and crazy characters all add up to just about everything a kid needs to be captivated by a story.

As a parent, I love that this story has such a good message. Stories are not just for fun. They are ways for us to learn and understand different ways of life. Not to mention moral lessons. 

Yertle learned that seeing oneself as far above others has dire consequences. Afterall, we all bleed red. 

This book has a real down with the monarchy ring to it. 

My favorite part of the book is ” And today the great Yertle, that marvelous he, is king of the mud. That is all he can see. And the turtles, of course…..all the turtles are free. As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.”

Honestly, shouldn’t we all have autonomy over ourselves? 

I highly recommend this book. It’s important to incorporate sound moral lesson’s into our children’s lives.

This is a 5 star book.

The Technical Data:

Title: Yertle the Turtle | Series:  N/A  |  Author(s): Dr . Seuss |Publisher: Random House Publishing / Publication Date: 4-12-1958 |Pages: 96 (Print) | ISBN: 978-0394800875  | Genre(s):  |Language: English |Rating: 3 out of 5 |  Date Read: 9-1-2016 |Source: Copy from author