Product Review:  The Turtle Who Imagined (Age 4+)

I wish I was a little bit taller

I wish I was a baller

I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her

I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat

And a six four Impala

–  Taken from SKEE-LO – I WISH Lyrics circa 1995

For some reason when I sat down to write this review, that SKEE-LO song came to mind and I felt compelled to write it down.  Sure, it makes me feel a little old (that came out in 1995?!? Oh man!), but thinking about that video with the short SKEE-LO trying to play basketball with the giants on the court made me laugh.  The ‘I Wish’ concept is also the theme of the children’s book The Turtle Who Imagined.

The Turtle Who Imagined is about a turtle who doesn’t want to be a turtle.  He wants to be a bird that can fly high in the sky or be as big as a bear.  He watches his friends play and do things he only could dream of doing.  Instead, he is a slow little turtle with a funny little shell.  While he is dreaming of living outside of his shell, danger is nearby.  Perhaps being a turtle with built-in protective gear isn’t so bad after all.  Maybe we should all be grateful for who we are and the unique qualities we each bring to the table.  Imagining is good, but wishing for things that we don’t or can’t have makes us unappreciative of what we do have and what we can do.  Let’s be the best ‘us’ we can be and acknowledge our own unique abilities and gifts instead of wishing for others.

Congrats!  The Turtle Who Imagined has just won the 2012 Book of the Year Award of the 2012 Creative Child Awards Program.

The Turtle Who Imagined (Age 4+)

www.guardianangelpublishing.com

List Price: $ 9.95 through Amazon.com  (Also available through PDF download for $5.00 through Guardian Angel Publishing)