Mr Darwin’s Tortoise by Angela McAllister & Chiara Fedele – The Strawberry Post
A book review of a children’s picture book teaching about Darwin through one boy’s story who meets Darwin while living on the Galapágos Islands.
About Mr Darwin’s Tortoise
Title: Mr Darwin’s Tortoise
Author: Angela McAllister
Illustrator: Chiara Fedele
Publisher: Zephyr
Genre: Children’s picture book
Book format reviewed: Hardback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Antonio lives on the Galápogos Islands. He loves to see flamingos and lizards, collect feathers and shells, and ask lots of questions.
One day, while he’s waiting for giant tortoise eggs to hatch, he meets a scientist called Mr Darwin, who also likes to ask questions!
Together they watch, wait and explore until Antonio has a special gift for his friend.
*Free copy provided by publisher for review…
My review and thoughts on Mr Darwin’s Tortoise
This is a lovely picture book inspiring kids to be curious about nature and learning through the story of a boy who meets Charles Darwin. Antonio loves to observe the birds, insects and animals on his island and he also loves to ask lots of questions about the world he observes. One day while checking to see if some tortoise eggs have hatched Antonio meets a man who is equally interested in the world, a man called Darwin. The hardback is filled with glossy pages of some colourful illustrations and text.
The story follows Antonio as he observes the island he lives in, Galápagos, where there are lots of interesting creatures. We see Antonio fascinated with so many things and enjoying collecting them too before he meets Charles Darwin who is the first person Antonio has met who is as curious about the natural world as him. I like how this story goes where Antonio is encouraged to keep being curious and in turn shares something with Darwin near the end too.
The illustrations are beautiful and really add to the story. I love how everything looks, all the humans and animals and how rich and diverse the island looks with such beautiful and colourful images. On some pages there’s so much to spot and in case you are curious what animals and plants are in the pictures, there’s a page at the end of the book showing what many of them are called. There’s also some brief information about Charles Darwin and the end pages show a map of Darwin’s route on ship and another map of Galápagos.
The book ends well and is a nice introduction to Darwin and can spark an interest in the natural world for kids reading it. I do think there could have been some more information about Darwin or the giant tortoises that are the focus of the story, or indeed even something more about the Galápagos islands in general, but it’s a beautifully illustrated book and a lovely story.
Other children’s books about Darwin
-Read review –Darwin’s Rival: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Search for Evolution by Christiane Dorion & Harry Tennant
What do you think of this book? Have you ever wanted to or have visited the Galápagos Islands? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
