I got to read this book in exchange for my review on NetGalley.

This a beautiful book in both the words and illustrations. I don’t think I have found quite a book that explains how parents sometimes can’t have babies and have to go to different routes like IVF, adoption, and surrogacy. I think this is a light enough stories that doesn’t go into too much detail for kids!

The illustrations are also beautiful!

What a great story explaining IVF/adoption/surrogacy to children! Sheldon, the turtle, sees a neighbor tucking in her eggs at night and he asks his parents where babies come from. They explain their journey in their search for a magical egg. The illustrations are colorful and engaging for readers. The text shares some factual information about the different ways sea animals have babies. I recommend this for kids age 3-7.
Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy of this wonderful story!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

When I copied the synopsis of this story for this blog post, I realized that I misjudged the topic slightly. I read it as an adoption story. While that's not what the author intended, I think it works as well. Essentially, the turtle parents struggle with laying an egg that doesn't just crack before the baby is ready. So they go looking for an egg that will work for them (and as I type this up it suddenly seems so obvious). Their turtle neighbor eventually offers them one of her eggs (and that's why I thought it was adoption). Anyway, it was a cute story about their search for the right egg that would result in an actual baby turtle for them.

The illustrations were bright and colorful with solid lines and a lot of cooler colors because they were under the ocean, but plenty of little spots of warmer colors in because they live in a coral reef. I think it would probably be a good story for children who are the result of IVF, surrogacy, or who have been adopted to not feel quite so alone and to help them understand that sometimes having a baby isn't easy. While I personally would have no need to read this to my children, I'd still be okay reading it a few times because it was a cute story. Overall I give it 4.13 out of 5 stars.

I think this book is about surrogacy/adoption? The book tells a story of two turtles explaining to their son where babies come from. During the story they share that their eggs kept breaking and so they went to many other animals to ask for an egg, but those eggs also didn't work, until a turtle next door gave them one of hers. There was some factual information, like sea horse males being the ones to lay eggs, but I kind of expected early in the story that the author would show what sea turtles actually do (lay eggs in the sand) but they didn't, so it was a bit confusing for me as an adult reader to determine what kind of book this would be. As far as my classroom library, I could see it maybe fitting in as a picture book about different kinds of families, but maybe this would really just be a better fit for a family wanting to explain surrogacy or adoption to their child. Either way, I would recommend this book for children in the 3-7 age range. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This book is truly a magical experience. A beautiful expression of how baby Sheldon came to life. A great read and addition to one’s library for good night reading and helping little ones understand that we are all different. A great resource for those who have graced our world via IVF. The illustrations are very rich and add to the feeling and emotions experienced reading the book.

I absolutely love this book. Story is well written. Illustrations are beautiful. Best part though is how it handled when you are not the biological child of your parents in such a delicate and kind way. This is such a great resource for families but also for any kid to learn how different families are made!