"The turtle hears humpback whales singing in the sea. She passes a humpback swimming in slow circles and blowing a ring of thick bubbles. Many fish get caught in the swirling, whirling water of this bubble net. With a strong push of its fluke, the whale comes up through the middle and swallows hundreds of trapped minnows in one huge gulp."

One moonlit night, a newly hatched turtle crawls over the sand to begin life in the ocean. Tiny and fragile, she pulls herself across an empty beach, avoiding the hungry birds and claw-cracking crabs of daylight to make her way into the sea.

As the turtle grows, she encounters many other creatures in the vast ocean landscape and quickly learns the ways of survival. When the time comes, she instinctively returns to the shady shores where she was hatched to lay her own eggs, and the delicate cycle of life begins again.

Compelling text and exquisite illustrations combine to tell a fascinating tale. Parents and teachers will appreciate the accurate portrayal of the trials of an endangered animal, but children are sure to enjoy the drama and the beauty of this powerful nature story.


Reviews:

Guiberson recounts the life of a sea turtle from its days as a hatchling on a sandy beach through its return to the same island as an egg-laying adult many years later. Using vivid prose, the author describes the creature's initial journey into the sea, its growth and travels throughout the ocean, and its narrow escape from a fishing net. The reptile's survival adventures provide readers with ample real-life drama, making anthropomorphism unnecessary. Berenzy's bright colored-pencil-and-gouache paintings help to elucidate the text and will give young listeners many details to ponder. A perfect choice for primary oceanography or endangered species units, this has a strong-enough story to use as a read-aloud. --Booklist

Experience the life of a female sea turtle as she breaks from her shell, splashes into the sea, and navigates for survival, eventually returning to the place of her birth to lay eggs. This tale of her life cycle is written in prose that gives immediacy to the events as the turtle encounters other sea animals during her long journey. Guiberson uses italicized sound words such as tap, tap, and scritch to draw readers into the story. Berenzy captures the essence of the text with her colored-pencil and gouache illustrations that alternate from dark to light, reflecting the various habitats. The author's concluding statements emphasize the diminishing number of sea turtles and the ways in which people are trying to protect them.. . let Into the Sea touch young readers with a sense of place and sensitivity for this gentle creature of the sea. --School Library Journal Star/Best Book of the Year

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