NELLIE'S BIG SPLASH

Doerrfeld expands her repertoire of stories featuring social and emotional learning with a tale of baby turtles and enormous waves.

After Nellie hatches alongside her many siblings, she’s overwhelmed to see how far they’ll have to travel to reach the ocean. Once they make it, the others dive happily into the surf, but Nellie takes one look at the pounding, terrifying waves and heads in the other direction. Each time Nellie thinks she has the situation under control (she tries to hide, run away, and rely on someone bigger and stronger), something comes along to change her mind. Scaling the nearby cliffs, she finds herself alone and lonely, but from her high vantage point, she realizes that the waves may be daunting, but there’s more to the ocean than she initially thought; in fact, it’s beautiful. Few young readers will blame Nellie for wanting to escape, and whether or not they pick up on the obvious messaging is less important than Nellie’s own personal journey. Her attempts to avoid her troubles carry hints of beloved titles such as Ashley Spires’ The Most Magnificent Thing (2014). The adorable, thick-lined digital art featuring a beguilingly expressive, large-headed, big-eyed, tiny turtle makes adept use of perspective, driving home the lesson.

In this sweet story, scary things may remain scary, but pushing past them yields enormous rewards.