Turtles In My Sandbox by Jennifer Keats Curtis is a wonderfully made 8.5" by 10", hardcover book. The first thing that I noticed about this book was that the cover artwork was very detailed, with beautiful baby diamondback terrapins hatching out of their shells. All three of my children were enraptured with the book and the watercolor pictures painted by illustrator, Emanuel Schongut. The colors are vivid, and the pictures are extremely detailed.

The book begins with a mother terrapin coming to shore to lay her eggs on what she thinks is the beach. She doesn't know that it is little Maggie's sandbox! Maggie comes to realize that there are turtle eggs in her sandbox, and with her mom's help, she becomes a "turtle sitter" and cares for the babies through the winter until their chances for survival increase in the summer. The book tells us how Maggie and her mother help to care for the baby turtles before, during, and after their hatching. The book taught my children and me quite a bit about caring for terrapin turtles. Even if we will never have the chance to care for them, it is something interesting to learn.

Turtles In My Sandbox does not have any mention of evolution, which Christian's who believe in the Biblical account of Genesis and Creation will prefer. The other item of interest I noticed was the fact that Maggie enlists her mom's help, something not seen in many of children's books today. She has her mom helping her throughout the book and shows that she relies on her mom in helping to care for these animals.

Of interest to parents is the five page educational supplement called “For Creative Minds.” It includes terrapin fun facts about their habitat, adaptations, food, and nesting. There is also a turtle habitat craft complete with paper terrapins, sea turtles, and tortoises that the child can cut out and make a three-dimensional turtle. The five-page segment can be printed or copied off for use in the classroom or home by the owner of the book.

What a wonderfully intriguing storybook for parents to use to bring home educational value. The educational usefulness is not obvious to children. For them it’s just a fun book. This book could be used alone for a simple study or paired with other items on the subject of turtles to make a fuller or broader unit study.