The Dancing Turtle: A Folktale from Brazil

Turtle loves to dance and play the flute. But her exuberance puts her at risk when her music attracts the attention of a hunter who brings her home for turtle stew. After she is caught, her only hope for escape is the hunter's children ... and her own wit. This folktale, first told by the indigenous people of Brazil, is now told throughout Latin America. The versions are as different as the cultures that contain them, but all of them celebrate Turtle, who carries the world and its wisdom on her back. Like the people of Latin America, Turtle always seems to survive through courage and wit. In watercolors radiant with foliage and wildlife, David Boston guides the reader through the dense and fertile Amazon rain forest. READING LEVELS: Lexile Level: 570L; Guided Reading: K

Pleasant DeSpain has a most unusual but true name and an equally unusual but true profession - writer and storyteller.​He travels the world collecting, researching, writing and retelling traditional tales from native cultures. Born in Colorado, he wrote his first original story at age eight. It was published as ＂The Mystery Artist＂ in 1996. Pleasant taught speech-literature-drama for six years at three universities, and wrote-produced-hosted an award-winning TV show called ＂Pleasant Journeys＂ on KING TV, Seattle. Now, the author of eighteen award-winning, multicultural story collections and picture books, published by August House, has a home in Troy, NY and frequently travels to spend extended periods of time in Thailand. While living half of each year in Thailand, Pleasant continues to collect more stories and is currently working on a new book.