An adorable book that speaks a great message! The Littlest Turtle is about treating everyone equally and fairly, no matter their size. It's a quick, yet, fun story about a small turtle, who speaks up, and makes a big change; and now, every turtle now gets treated fairly! The illustrations are extremely cute and loud, with lots of patterns and earthy tones!

Thank you to NetGalley/Lysa Mullday, and Magination Press (APA)!

The Littlest Turtle by Lysa Mullady delivers a powerful message about the significance of using one's voice to advocate for fairness and what is right. The vivid illustrations relatable characters make it an engaging read.

Through its simple, yet impactful, narrative this book imparts a valuable lesson to young readers, promoting the idea that even the smallest voices can make a big impact in creating positive change. Mullady skillfully weaves this important theme into a captivating story suitable for children that encourages empathy and as well as social awareness.

As a parent of two small humans, I would wholeheartedly recommend this story to your library. Both my littles loved it and they were so proud of the Littlest Turtle.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, American Psychological Association, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Littlest Turtle centers around two groups of turtles -- big turtles and small turtles. There's a classification here with one group of turtles feeling superior and the other feeling belittled. But then, thanks to the littlest turtle, both groups decide to work together to make things fair for everyone.
Not the best book and the message of equality is very obvious, which could be good for children, or it could go over their head.

The Littlest Turtle
by Lysa Mullady

This book was so adorable. The messages of fairness was great. The grandchildren have asked me to read it time and time again. A good hit. Ages 2-8

I received a free copy of this book per NetGalley for an honest review.

A great story to share in a classroom to introduce fairness and cooperation. There are several great themes that can lead to discussions to help students learn to listen to others and also speak up for themselves. The illustrations are simple, but the concept is engaging and important. Thank you to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had fun reading this book. For many years, things have stayed the same in a group of turtles. It takes the smallest turtle to speak up about something that raises some concerns about how things are. Thanks to them saying something, things in this community end up changing for the better. Some kids will have a lot of fun reading this book.

The Littlest Turtle is a cute story about turtles of different sizes. The turtles are trying to reach berries from a bush. The small turtles get on top of the larger turtles back to reach the freshest fruit. The larger turtles want to have the fresh berries too. This book teaches about there being 2 sides of an issue and the littlest turtle is able to bridge the gap between the 2 problems. A good story for discussing conflict. Recommended for ages 4 - 9

What a delightful little book! The Littlest Turtle tells the story of a community of turtles of various statures and sizes who live and work together. There’s a division of labor in which the smaller turtles climb on the backs of the larger turtles to pick the ripest and most delicious fruits from the trees. What the smaller turtles are largely unaware of is that while they are getting to eat the best and most delicious fruits from the trees, the larger turtles have to make do with the fruit that falls on the ground and is often rotten or otherwise spoiled.

One day, Littlest Turtle hears the larger turtles grumbling among themselves about how unfair the whole situation is. Without the value of their labor (i.e. literally allowing the smaller turtles to climb on their backs to reach the fruit), the smaller turtles would not be able to eat. However, they always have to eat food that’s not as good. This gets Littlest Turtle to thinking.

Littlest Turtle consults one of his fellow smaller turtles and asks why the larger turtles don’t get to share in eating the best fruits that are picked. Littlest Turtle immediately gets shut down by his peer who claims that that’s just the way things have always been and there’s no sensible reason to change anything. Littlest Turtle mulls over the unfairness of the whole system and starts to concoct a plan to change things for the better. Feeling emboldened by a newfound sense of justice, Littlest Turtle sleeps in preparation for putting his plan in motion.

The next day, Littlest Turtle approaches Biggest Turtle and tells them that the whole system is unfair, that they want to help rectify the inequality and ensure all turtles have access to the best and freshest fruits. Biggest Turtle says that the larger turtles have been talking amongst themselves about a plan to enact change. Littlest Turtle volunteers to help, and so off they go.

Marching to the brambles, the larger turtles (along with their comrade-in-arms Littlest Turtle) stop in their tracks while the smaller turtles make their way to the fruit. They stop, and see that the larger turtles have not joined them to allow them to climb on top of their backs to pick the fruit. Biggest Turtle announces their stance, stating that they want to eat the freshest berries too. Littlest Turtle chimes in to say that they won’t be moving until a change is made. Who doesn’t love solidarity among turtles and peaceful sit-ins?

The turtles start having conversations together and exploring how the old system was wholly unfair. The smaller turtles have to face the fact that they’ve unfairly benefitted from a system that’s exploited the labor of the larger turtles while not providing for their needs. They all work together to create a new system that ensures every turtle among them has access to the freshest fruits.

I think The Littlest Turtle is the perfect book for introducing children to ideas of fairness, equality, division of labor, and access. Children develop empathy by having conversations about what’s fair and by ensuring everyone in a given community’s needs are provided for. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

This was an adorable book with some wonderful messages! A nice way to teach about fairness and equality for all. Plus, the pictures were cute!

I loved reading this book to my kids and they have since asked me to read it to them again! I really like not only how the focus is on fairness and helping others but it also suggests ways that children can help others but in a simple way children can sympathize with and understand. You will find this book on our shelf at home. Easy five stars for this one.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is the story of a smaller turtle who sticks up for himself against all the more enormous turtles.

The story centers around small turtles and big turtles and the way they eat berries.

The small turtles normally stand on top of the big turtles’ back and always eat the best berries while the big turtles always get the worse berries . One day the smallest turtle and the Biggest Turtle work together change the order of gathering berries so the Smallest Turtle comes up with a plan and together big and small turtles work together so that all turtles can enjoy a good meal and be happy.

I absolutely loved this story, it shows children (turtles) that even little ones can make a big difference.

The illustrations were beautiful.

I just reviewed The Littlest Turtle by Lysa Mullady. #TheLittlestTurtle #NetGalley

4 stars = Great! Might re-read.

Darling story with a fantastic message about empathy, compassion, and advocacy. The illustrations are darling, just as I expected from the cover. But the story really delivers as well. Highly recommend!

An inspiring book about social change and the power of a small voice to make a difference, The Littlest Turtle is all about a little turtle who notices a problem, listens, and acts. In the story, the little turtles stand on the backs of big turtles to eat fresh berries. The big turtles eat the fallen fruit below. Littlest Turtle realizes this is unfair. She listens to the complaints of the big turtles. She stands with them and they engage in a peaceful protest for change. Soon a new system is agreed upon and all of the turtles gather and share fresh fruit together. This story models the process of peaceful activism. The lesson is clear and overt. There are additional resources for study and discussion at the end of the book. The art is adorable and engaging with notes of humour. This story would be a useful resource for teaching children about activism and looking around to see ways in which they can help build a better world.

The Littlest Turtle is a very approachable book for young children to learn and understand the important ideas of equity and fairness.

We have turtles who are all getting an equal number of berries when they're working together to reach them, but not everyone is getting quality berries. Littlest Turtle is already getting the better end of the deal, getting the freshest berries during their foraging, but he sees something amiss and advocates for change. The satisfaction of seeing everyone working together AND everyone equitably enjoying the literal fruits of their labor is better than any berry he could enjoy.

I feel like there are a lot of adults, especially in our government, who could use some exposure to this simple but important lesson.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

"What always was shouldn't always be when
you take the time to see things differently."

What a wonderful lesson taught by the littlest turtle. The way things were was great for the small turtles yet not fair to the big turtles. It was time for a change and made it happen

The readers note was really great to help with explaining the lesson of the book.

The Littlest Turtle is the story of the little guy who helped change the unfair way things had always been done.

All the turtles climb on top of each other, the little ones on top of the big ones, to reach the berries to eat. The littlest turtles at the top always got to eat the freshest berries, and the bigger turtles on the bottom always got the rotten sour fruit.

One day, the smallest turtle and some of the bigger turtles were talking and decided it wasn't fair. The little turtle helped convince all the turtles together that there was a better way of doing things, a way that would make it fair for everyone.

Beautiful story about working together to make things equal for everyone. This is a lesson all our kids need to hear (and adults too!). This book should be in every classroom and library! Loved it! ❤️🐢❤️

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!

Such a cute book about equity v equality. In a somewhat unusual move, it's the little turtles that are getting the best of everything and the big turtles that are stuck with the dregs.
The drawings are simple and very colorful. No gendered language is used. Although the anthropomorphised turtles have very long eyelashes! :)
Several pages at the back for educators explains the premise of the book and differences between equity and equality. I didn't find this super helpful but the book example was more than enough to understand.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
A tale of being equal in all things. The smallest turtle wants the largest turtles to have some delicious berries, too. With trial and error, all the turtles come together and agree that everyone should benefit from the yummy berries. With colorful pages of green and yellow, "The Littlest Turtle" shows that no matter the smallest person or softest voice can triumph too, anytime.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and American Psychological Association, Magination Press, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review; all opinions are my own.

The Littlest Turtle is a picture book with charming turtles—I absolutely adore the patterns on their shells.

It's also nice that there's a twist on the story that it's the big turtles who have the problem instead of the littlest turtle getting picked on. The story centers on fairness, sharing, and kindness.

This may seem like a crazy concern, but I wondered if turtles really eat berries. They can, but it's not their primary diet. A side of me wishes this book incorporated some STEM about turtles. The moral message might feel a little heavy for some readers.

I do recommend this book. It's a good starting point to talk about sharing with small children.

Happy reading!