Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails by Tammy Yee

Rating: 5 out of 5
Board book: 16 pages
Publisher: Island Heritage Publishing (July 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597009288
ISBN-13: 978-1597009287
Under 5

Opening Sentence: "Turtle dreams of turtle trails and riding high on whale's tails."

When on holidays in Hawaii recently I wanted to get my son a picture book with a story about Hawaii. This was a lot harder then I thought. So I settled for a Hawaiian author and a story that had Hawaii iconic things in it (like lei's and hibiscus flowers).

This is the tale of Turtle, who goes on a dreamy adventure through his habitat with his friends Seal and Whale. Along the way he encounters many things and creatures that inhabit his world.

This book is so much more then just a Hawaiian book, and I am delighted we picked it up. The story is a simple which makes it very easy to follow for young readers. It follows the rhyming and lyrical pattern which means it flows easily while reading it. Also woven into the story there is also counting, shapes, and colours.

Tammy Yee has illustrated the book itself and the pictures are wonderful. They are bright and colourful. The animals are in cartoon form with big eyes and wide smiles. What is really great is nearly every image has pictures with in the image. For instance on the pages with four big fish on it, the fish scales are pieces of fruit (for instance the orange fish has scales of oranges). So there is so much more to this then just a story and pretty picture.

This is one of my sons favorite books and I would definitely recommend it to any one with young children.