I AM STUCK

It stinks to be stuck.

Turtle is stuck on their back, unable to flip over. “Try wiggling your feet,” advises Duck—nope. Still stuck. “Try wagging your tail,” Kangaroo suggests—nope again. Armadillo says that rolling in a ball might work—Turtle tries…but rolls ALL the way over and is stuck again. Possum wonders if Turtle is playing possum, but Turtle says no. “It doesn’t hurt. But I feel scared, frustrated, and alone.” Possum flops over with Turtle. They smell honeysuckle. They hear a bird singing. They watch clouds together. Turtle feels a bit better, but then it rains. Now, Turtle is cold and wet…“but I don’t feel stuck.” Possum says, “I feel like my butt fell asleep.” And the duo giggle so hard, they both flip over. They discover being stuck is not so bad when you’re together. Mills’ tale is incredibly similar to Eoin McLaughlin and Polly Dunbar’s The Roar (2022), right down to the ultimate solution: laughter. In Mills’ story, it’s a possum that helps a turtle (rather than a hedgehog aiding a tortoise), and different animals weigh in on the protagonist’s plight. Though it may seem redundant to have two such similar titles, both offer (the same) good advice to young listeners. Mills’ bright, cartoonish watercolors are enticing; the book concludes with three suggestions for readers who feel metaphorically “stuck.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

The help of a good friend resolves a sticky situation in this sweet tale.