ONE SUMMER NIGHT

Sea turtle hatchlings follow moonlight to find their ocean homes, but what happens if clouds get in the way?

In rhyming couplets, Salzano imagines the scenario: a dark, stormy night and hatchlings confused by a porch light. Luckily, in this community, there are turtle watchers to help. The porch light goes off; people line the beach to make a passage; and a bespectacled, slicker-clad girl with a flashlight guides the young turtles to the waiting waves, where they will be safe—at least from the threatening gulls. Basic facts about sea turtle emergence are woven into the narrative along with the anthropomorphic fantasy that a turtle might wave a flipper to lead the way or to say thanks to the helping humans. The language includes some evocative action verbs, but the rhythm of these couplets stumbles, with the expected stress sometimes falling on unimportant words. Sayegh’s cheerful illustrations are composed of clean shapes and interesting textures. The turtles have googly eyes and open-mouthed smiles. The flashlight-wielding girl has brown skin; the other humans have varying skin tones. Four supplementary pages, illustrated with actual photographs, introduce sea turtle species, summarize the hatching process, and suggest other ways humans can help. Philippe Cousteau and Deborah Hopkinson’s Follow the Moon Home, illustrated by Meilo So (2016), offers much of the same information but for a slightly older audience. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A sweet story with an environmental message.