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A review by thearomaofbooks
The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
3.0
This was my latest book from my Bethany Beach Box, which despite mostly 3/5 reads, I have been enjoying. I actually really like children's fiction, and it's been interesting to see what books are considered worth promoting this way. Turtle was another 3/5 read, honestly mostly because it was quite boring. As an adult, it was rather obvious that Nye's entire goal was to write a book that showed a Muslim family in a Muslim country in a positive light. There is nothing wrong with that, but considering how people complain about books written in the 1950's and how they're "too sweet" and not at all "realistic", it seems a little strange to turn around and praise a book that is basically sugar.
Aref and his parents are moving from Oman, a country in the Middle East, to Michigan, so that his parents can complete their doctorate degrees. Aref isn't happy about leaving, and most of the book are little adventures that he has with his grandpa as they visit all of their favorite places together. I honestly ended the book feeling quite aggravated with Aref's parents, who seemed to feel that their education and life was more important than Aref being close to his grandpa.
But what really bogged this book down were the lists. We're told at the beginning that Aref and his family love learning new things, and then writing down what they have learned that day. So throughout the book, whenever Nye wants her readers to learn something, we have to suffer through a list, in Aref's handwriting, telling us about the habits of turtles or how awesome it is to live in Oman under the rule of a sultan, which really added to the boring factor in this tale.
I realize that I am not the target audience for this book, but even at the age of ten I don't think that I would have enjoyed reading a bunch of lists. All in all, this book came across as a book that practically screamed USE ME FOR A UNIT STUDY IN YOUR SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM, but in my mind didn't have a lot to offer just simply as a story.
Aref and his parents are moving from Oman, a country in the Middle East, to Michigan, so that his parents can complete their doctorate degrees. Aref isn't happy about leaving, and most of the book are little adventures that he has with his grandpa as they visit all of their favorite places together. I honestly ended the book feeling quite aggravated with Aref's parents, who seemed to feel that their education and life was more important than Aref being close to his grandpa.
But what really bogged this book down were the lists. We're told at the beginning that Aref and his family love learning new things, and then writing down what they have learned that day. So throughout the book, whenever Nye wants her readers to learn something, we have to suffer through a list, in Aref's handwriting, telling us about the habits of turtles or how awesome it is to live in Oman under the rule of a sultan, which really added to the boring factor in this tale.
I realize that I am not the target audience for this book, but even at the age of ten I don't think that I would have enjoyed reading a bunch of lists. All in all, this book came across as a book that practically screamed USE ME FOR A UNIT STUDY IN YOUR SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM, but in my mind didn't have a lot to offer just simply as a story.