The Foolish Tortoise Written By Richard Buckley and Illustrated by Eric Carle

The Foolish Tortoise by Eric Carle

This is a story about a tortoise who no longer wants to be hampered by his heavy shell and the adventures that ensue afterwards. The story is told in rhymes, which makes it a good place to discuss rhyming patterns with young readers.

 

Target ages: preschool, kindergarten, 1^st grade

Springboards for lessons: Discuss with the children what makes the turtle unique—his shell. Encourage the children to connect with the story by asking them what they think is unique about them. For older students, like 1^st grade, perhaps asking them is there is anything about themselves they would like to change, similar to how the turtle wanted to lose his shell.

Additionally, a matching game of rhyming words can be made with the vocabulary of the story. By placing words such as “brisk” and “risk” on index cards, 1^st graders can match these words into rhyming pairs.

This book could also be linked to a science unit about turtles and tortoises, particularly for purposes of explaining the multiple uses of their shells.