Two Turtles by Kiah Thomas illustrated by Jack A Minton

Terrence and Frank are serious rivals. Everything is a competition. If you have siblings you might relate to this. 

"Who has the shiniest shell ... Who can walk the slowest ... Who is the best at pretending to be a shark?"

Then Frank falls off the cliff or perhaps he rolls off - is this an accident? - he cannot bear to lose so he turns this mishap into a competition too and calls out to Terrence 'Bet I can beat you to the bottom'. 

Naturally Frank takes up the challenge and he also jumps off the cliff. Luckily (or perhaps it could be a disaster) this is a very very high cliff. This means there is time to think. About halfway they both realise this could end very badly. At this point you, the reader, are invited to offer some help.

Both turtles have lots of things inside their shells. There are things they have stowed that can could save them but ... you and your young audience need to shout:

HEY, TERRANCE AND FRANK! JUST WORK TOGETHER!

What did they have in their shells? Do they land safely? And most important of all did they learn a life lesson about cooperation (not competition)?

Two Turtles is listed on TWO CBCA 2025 Notables lists - Picture Book of the Year and the Early Childhood list so I thought it must be an amazing book - sorry but I was slightly disappointed. First off I disagree that this is a book for very young readers aged 0-6. 

I made similar comments about Jetty Jumping (here are the teachers notes) and the inclusion of risk-taking behaviours for an audience of very young children. Jetty Jumping is a beautifully illustrated book and it tells a special story but I worried about it being listed for very young children. 

Secondly, Two Turtles is overtly didactic with its lesson about the importance of cooperation, but the ending shows the two turtles are not going to change that that their propensity to see every aspect of their relationship as a competition and it seems their rivalry will continue.

I do like:

• the way this book 'breaks the fourth wall'
• the expressive faces on the two turtles (and the bird)
• the humour - packing a toaster
• the wise little bird watching these silly turtles - you could write a whole story from his/her perspective
• the wordless page
• and there is room here to read other books such as The Hare and the Tortoise (text reference: who can walk the slowest); and The Great White Man-eating Shark by Margaret Mahy (text reference: who is best at pretending to be a shark). 
• The story structure is interesting moving from the present back to the past and then ending where the story started.

I'm not such a fan of:

• Repeated digital illustrations (you can see inside this book here)
• The sudden arrival of extra birds on the second last page - where did they come from?
• Two pages of black showing the side of the tall cliff
• The patterned end papers - do they relate to the story or are they decorative?
• I'm not sure how the four pigs fit into the narrative and also there is a puzzling wire frame around the tree stump where the bird is trying to catch a worm
• There are tiny butterfly decorations on some pages - are these necessary?

The Kids' Book Reviewer totally disagrees with me. 

The illustrations are stunners, with a gorgeous green and brown palette throughout and the funkiest of animal pals. A birdy spectator features on the pages, expressing its own views about the juvenile turtles with the most entertaining facial expressions. ... Two Turtles is a story for everyone. It’s a story about all of us. I highly recommend you grab a copy. It’s an award winner for sure!

What Book Next.com say: But instead of this becoming a tale of a terrible tragedy, readers will laugh out loud at the antics of two rival turtles. ... Entertaining to the last possible moment!  

Other reviewers liken Two Turtles to books by Jon Klassen such as This is not my Hat. Some other (better) books about rivalry for readers aged 6+ are:

The Real Winner

Best Test

I previously read and enjoyed a middle grade novel by Kiah Thomas - The Callers.

The Callers (five stars from me)

Jake A Minton entered this book in the CBCA New Illustrator award 2023. It didn't win but I was one of the judges and we all agreed this book had very special illustrations. 

There's no such book