The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle Reviews

The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle Cover with an illustrated turtle in a shallow pool and a pre-order banner

Sy Montgomery, Matt Patterson (Illustrator)
Clarion Books (09/09/2025) 9780063325166

Reviews:

Resilience forms the backbone of this heartening new collaboration between Montgomery and Patterson (The Book of Turtles), which spotlights the real-life story of a snapping turtle named Fire Chief. From ping-pong-ball-size egg to quarter-size baby to full-grown adult who’s the weight of a lawn mower, the starring reptile is presented as the beneficiary of incredible lifelong luck. Science-oriented storytelling offers informed guesses about Fire Chief’s early years, leading up to his arrival at a rural fire station’s heart-shaped pond, where he’s eventually spotted sunning on a log. Time passes—underscoring the species’ incredible longevity—and the slow-moving animal’s luck comes to an end during an annual migration across a former country lane that’s been developed into a state highway. Luckily, people from the Turtle Rescue League arrive with a plan for rehabilitation, including a special wheelchair, and “human friends” eventually create a new, safer aquatic abode that requires no further road crossings—“What a lucky turtle!” The book’s artist, revealed to own the property on which Fire Chief lives, clearly has firsthand knowledge of the subject, relayed via intricate, hyper-realistic paintings that lend an appropriately documentary feel to this uplifting tale. conclude
— Publisher’s Weekly


Fire Chief is a large snapping turtle who overcame many challenges to find a home. “Birds like crows could swoop in for a turtle feast. Snakes might swallow them whole. Even a chipmunk will eat a little turtle!” In child-appropriate text, the authors manage to express the daily dangers that small turtles face. After finding safety at a local fire station, Fire Chief’s usual road becomes a highway, leading to a dangerous collision with a car. Fortunately, a rescue team is able to save him. The incredible story of Fire Chief is captivating on its own, and the illustrations only add to that appeal. Using what’s described as “a funny grip on the paintbrush,” the illustrator creates life -like images that heighten the drama while giving Fire Chief just enough of a smile to give him personality. Readers will find themselves rooting for him from the start. Young readers will be fascinated by the real-life resilience of this turtle and inspired by the people who helped him survive.
— Kirsten Caldwell, Booklist


The Sibert Honor–winning creators of The Book of Turtles (2023) recount the true story of a snapping turtle whom they both had a hand in rescuing.

The chronological account of Fire Chief’s life begins with a dramatic spread—his mother lays her eggs near a tree with giant roots that both shelter and appear poised to walk away. Child-friendly descriptions make clear the vulnerabilities of the newborn turtle, who was “almost as small as a quarter—so small that even a fish could swallow him.” Montgomery gently folds in the notion of his being “lucky” for having survived such challenges as predators and a road he must cross to reach his winter pond. As the town changes, Fire Chief’s road becomes a highway, leading to his pivotal “unlucky” collision with a car. The Turtle Rescue League tends to his wounds, builds him a wheelchair for indoor exercise, and gives him time to grow strong. Montgomery asks a crucial question: “Would he be fast enough to beat whizzing cars? Is any turtle?” The mostly white-presenting rescuers and local wildlife lovers come up with an ingenious solution; the backmatter reveals Montgomery and Patterson’s own involvement in the story—a poignant surprise. Patterson’s lifelike illustrations pour love on the book’s star: Fire Chief’s penetrating orange-brown eyes and bemused smile charm, while the folds of skin on his legs and chin look like landscape portraits in and of themselves.

In the annals of true animal rescue tales, this one delights and uplifts.
— Kirkus, starred review


Librarians pick the best new books for kids this fall:
The award-winning duo behind The Book of Turtles returns with a true fairy tale about the life of a snapping turtle named Fire Chief. Through Patterson’s realistic acrylic illustrations, readers see the animal mature from the size of an acorn to the size of a lawn mower before an encounter with a vehicle nearly ends his life. Turtle Rescue League conservationists nurse him back to health, and Fire Chief lives happily ever after in a freshly dug pond in the illustrator’s backyard. Montgomery addresses readers directly, inviting them into this remarkable story; an appendix offers resources about turtle stewardship.
— The Washington Post