You can almost feel the texture in Lauren Castillo's (What Happens on Wednesdays) images of an urban boy who adopts a turtle he finds in the park. The child pines for a pet as he sits on his stoop, watching wagging dogs go by on their walks. "I really want a pet, but I always hear 'No.' " says the boy narrator. The large dog that seems to be walking its master is "too big," says Mom. Dad says a monkey is "too much work." Castillo, in an impressive debut as an author, delivers a deadpan text that plays against her bustling city scenes. "Everyone else has a pet," the boy says while gazing at a leashed gerbil and llama (plus the usual cats and dogs). Then the boy finds a pet that fits the bill--not too big, not too much work: a turtle he names Melvin.
In Castillo's illustrations, the turtle stays true to its nature, much to the hero's disappointment. "Back home I try to play with Melvin, but he is hiding." He continues to "hide" in front of the boy's friends and their pets. Castillo milks the humorous possibilities. As Melvin takes a bath, he comes face to face with a rubber ducky. Still, the young hero can sense that Melvin doesn't seem at home among humans and must make a difficult decision. Castillo closes with two pages of "turtle facts." Her deceptively simple story conveys a child's respect for nature's creatures and also the importance of first-hand experiences with them. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness