Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius: A True Story about an Amazing Swimmer

by Lynne Cox (Author) Richard Jones (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

In this picture book that is both heartwarming and exciting, join Yoshi, a sea turtle, on her remarkable journey as she swims farther than any animal in recorded history--23,000 miles!--to return to the beach where she first hatched, to lay her own eggs.

Inside every loggerhead turtle is genius: the ability to find their first home, no matter how far away. Follow one, from her birth on a beach in Australia...to her trip across an ocean filled with sharks and seahorses and much more...to her rescue from a net by a fisherman, who names her Yoshi...to her rehabilitation at an aquarium...to her record-breaking swim across the Indian Ocean to the beach on which she hatched, to lay her eggs.

Written by Lynne Cox, also a record-breaking swimmer, here is the true story of a sea turtle who swam the longest distance of any animal in recorded history.

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Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
A mesmerizing glimpse at the miracles of the natural world.

ALA/Booklist

A brilliant tribute to a marvel of the natural world.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Long-distance swimmer Cox presents this fictionalized story that follows Yoshi, the loggerhead turtle who spent 20 years in a South African aquarium before swimming nearly 23,000 miles back to her native Australia. A straightforward narrative couches playful, lyrical text that details Yoshi's hatching, reports on physical changes over time ("She was just the size of a smile"), and lists myriad creatures she likely encountered on land and sea ("a whale shark as big as a school bus"). Lines that visualize the journey ("Her body glowed in a blanket of sparkling water") complement Jones's delicately textured, digitally edited paintings, which portray sea life in muted hues and envision Yoshi's diminutive form against a wide-open ocean. Several light-infused night scenes bestow a calming ambiance upon a succinctly told story that's satisfying in its full-circle itinerary and its appreciation of the sea turtle's innate "genius." Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author's note, archival photo of Yoshi, and map conclude. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 
Lynne Cox
Lynne Cox is a legendary long-distance open-water swimmer. She is the author of the children's book Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas, which received four starred reviews, as well as several books for adults, including South with the Sun and the New York Times bestsellers Grayson and Swimming to Antarctica. She is also a contributor to the New Yorker. Lynne has set world records for swimming, and in 2000 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Richard Jones is the illustrator of several picture books, including A Story for Small Bear, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. He also illustrated Whale in a Fishbowl, which recieved four starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year. He is the author/illustrator of the picture books Perdu and Little Bear. Richard was nominated for the Ezra Jack Keats Award for New Illustrator in 2019.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780593425688
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Anne Schwartz Books
Publication date
January 10, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF051100 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Environmental Science & Ecosystems
JNF003360 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Turtles
Library of Congress categories
Turtles
Loggerhead turtle

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