“Picture-book classic:
Consider the terrapin,
Facing the day
With defense first miscued;
Learning to balance
A shell-set employment
With needed steps…
As a wise turtle would do.”
The 12 April 2024 Twitter poem highlighted Turtle Tale, a memorable storybook written by Frank Asch. This was the last of three story-summarizing poems written during National Library Week 2024. (In terms of the post title here, the rhyme with “hurtle forward” was both humorous and intriguingly contradictory.)
“Picture-book classic: /
Consider the terrapin…”
Unlike the novels celebrated earlier here, Turtle Tale is a picture book, highlighting simple images of a “terrapin” learning to navigate the world. (Author Frank Asch also composed and illustrated many other classics during his career.)
“Facing the day /
With defense first miscued; /
Learning to balance /
A shell-set employment /
With needed steps…”
In this story, the eponymous Turtle learns when best to use his shell, facing the various hazards of the day.
Initially, a falling apple strikes him on the head, so he decides to always hide in his shell. However, he then realizes he cannot eat or drink (his “defense [is] first miscued”), so he fully reverses his resolve. The storyline continues through a few more “all or nothing” moments, until Turtle strategically deploys his “shell-set employment” at a key moment: hiding from a hungry fox, then re-emerging to face the day, once the danger is past.
Achieving the balance between stationary, defensive stance and “needed steps” brings Turtle’s story to a satisfying close.
“As a wise turtle would do.”
Turtle’s refrain as he strives for this happy medium is: “That’s what a wise turtle would do.” He first applies this characterization to the two extremes (always using the shell; never using the shell) before realizing the wisdom of moderation, at which point the line– now deployed more aptly– closes the book.
During my childhood, this was one of my and my siblings’ favorite stories, and the status of “wise turtle” became a shorthand for achieving a sensible response to an everyday challenge. It has been fun to revisit the book, years later, in this setting.
Chemphasis 