July Family Book Review

This month’s book feature is It All Started with a Turtle, written by Lisa Holthouse and illustrated by Bill Megenhardt. This book relays a special story about teaching children entrepreneurial skills as well as the idea of giving back.

I really enjoyed reading this story to my kids. It’s a neat story based on true events that the author had with her own child. We all have been (or will be) asked of our children, “can we get a pet?” And the answer is almost always invariably: maybe, someday, are you responsible enough, how are you going to pay for this animal? The story It All Started with a Turtle takes children on a journey from asking for a new pet to raising their own money to buy that pet, and all of the responsibilities that come along the way. It teaches valuable lessons to youngsters about business skills, math skills, communication skills, and of course responsibility and taking ownership for something (not just asking, getting it, getting tired of it, and then mom and dad take over.)

As a librarian, I really valued this story because I loved reading books aloud to kids that flowed really well and told a great lesson. It was sometimes hard to find books that would relate to a varying age range of children and this story covers that really well. It’s boldly illustrated with just enough text on each page in contrast to the visual which I really liked, as did my own kids. As a parent, I treasured the other underlying theme in this story: paying it forward. The story is about a child wanting a turtle, her parents explaining she would have to raise her own money to buy a turtle, which turns into the whole family working together to build a lemonade stand so that the child can use the money she earns from selling cups of lemonade to buy her turtle. What happens at the end of the story has become a national event: Lemonade Day. Kids are taught to spend some, save more, and give back to their communities through this nationwide endeavor.

Find out more about the inspiring story of Lemonade Day and how to bring it here to Louisville at www.lemonadeday.org. Have fun reading with your family every day!

By guest contributor: Erin