Children's Book Review

"The Fisherman and the Turtle"
adapted by Eric A. Kimmel
illustrated by Martha Aviles

Taken from the jacket:
In the time of the Aztecs, a fisherman lives with his wife in a hut by the sea. One day, he captures a green turtle, a god in disguise. The turtle grants him a wish in exchange for being released. the fisherman asks for four fishes. When his wife finds out, she's furious. Why didn't he wish for a stone house so they could be rich? Three different times, she sends her husband back to talk to the turtle. On each visit, the fisherman asks the turtle to grant the ever-more-demanding wishes of his greedy wife. But his wife finally goes too far!

This book is a revised version of of several old tales. He has taken part of Grimms' Fairy Tale "The Fisherman and His Wife" and also elements from "The Crown of Sang Nila Utama" a story from Singapore with a similar theme. To be quite honest I liked it a lot, but the kiddo was not as impressed. She had little interest in lessons that are presented this obviously. It didn't have any flowery princesses, pink tutu's or fairy wands so it wasn't really interesting to her.

The story was good, simply put and an easy read. The artwork is fabulous with bright colorful Aztec styling and well depicted emotions (as pictured above). I am sorry that my kiddo didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, but I plan on trying one or two more times to put this back in the night time story line up to see if she'll take to it.

I do recommend it as a good read and even if your kiddo doesn't enjoy it as much as some of the others, even one read of this lesson is worth the time spent.

The lesson? BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, YOU MIGHT JUST GET IT!