Tiny Turtle Trek! Truman by Jean Ready

Truman was the size of a donut,
a small donut--and every bit as sweet.

Truman is a tiny turtle who lives with Sarah in a tiny tank on the windowsill, overlooking a city street of loud taxis and trash trucks--where sometimes he sees the number 11 bus traveling south.

Truman is a very quiet pet, one who happy to watch Sarah color and play. But one morning is different.

Sarah hops out of bed, eats a very large banana, gets dressed in new clothes, and puts on a terribly big backpack.

Sarah placed seven green beans in Truman's dish
--two more than usual.

Something is up! And as Truman watches from his tank by the window, he sees Sarah go away on the number 11 bus with her mom.

Truman waits, bereft. At last he decides he must find Sarah, even if he has to take the number 11 bus, too!

Truman struggles to clamber up the rocks in his tank and drops down onto the floor to start his trek toward the door. It takes a very long time time in turtle hours. But at last Truman stands before the door, summoning all his courage to board the bus on the busy street. But after all, Truman is a valiant turtle.

Suddenly Truman hears the number 11 bus, and then, of course, Sarah returns from school, amazed to find her tiny but intrepid little turtle at the door, in Jean Ready's most delightsome pet story, Truman (Atheneum Books, 2019).

Author Jean Ready tells her tale of love and loyalty in charmingly precise but picturesque language and perhaps signals a sequel on the final pages with a hint that Truman may get to ride the number 11 bus after all--on Show and Tell Day. Artist Lucy Ruth Commins' blackline drawings use simple lines, with soft hues in single and double-page spreads that tell this "peaceful and pensive" story with perfect pacing and just the right touch of pathos. This picture book is just about perfect! In fact, Booklist's reviewer gives in and uses that one word that best describes Sarah's loyal and plucky little turtle: "Cummins has rendered in Truman a character so indisputably adorable that, coupled with Reidy's soulful characterization, readers of all ages will be falling in love."