New Review: I'll Follow the Moon — 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition

It's hard not to want to include one of my all-time favorites, one that happens to be the favorite of my son as well. He loves turtles and I love the bond that we share. Together, that makes I'll Follow the Moon an epic win that we've read probably a hundred times. It's perfect for bedtime, mornings, and vacations at the beach. Sometimes it can be paired with videos about sea turtles as well.

The story consists of a baby turtle trying to get back to his mother by the light of the moon. The repetition is soothing and comforting. It takes about 10 minutes to read at a moderate pace. Illustrations get an A+ and more than once I've climbed back into the back seat of the car to read it to him after he requested it. These are the kinds of memories you treasure and it's special when a book can be a part of it.

I've bought copies for several friends and it's a bargain at twice the price. It really makes you think as well about what really ties us all together. Simply wonderful.

Name: I'll Follow the Moon — 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Rating: 4.7 stars over 1,601 reviews


Description:

Double-gold medalist begins simply in baby sea turtle's voice: "I'm coming Mama, I'll see you soon, I know just how, I'll follow the moon..." Celebrating the love between child and parent comes an achingly beautiful story that has captured hearts around the world. *Donates to charity: every book saves a turtle!

One night in 2001, about a month after I brought baby Madeline home from the hospital, I noticed something quite strange on the beach in front of our south Florida home. It was late and Mom was tired, doing a last-one-of-the-day bottle feeding on the deck after along day of new mom activities. As Maddie slurped down the final ounce of her formula with that familiar glup, glup, glup sound, I noticed dark, tiny shapes scurrying across the sand.

What was this? I wondered and went down for a closer look. There they were! Baby turtles streaming out of hundreds of small nests, gentle rises in the sand were their markers. The babies made fanciful patterns in the sand as they dashed on little green legs in a remarkable race to the sea.

I watched them hop, one by one, into welcoming waves that sparkled under the beautiful moonlight. "I'm coming Mama..." they seemed to be saying, and I realized that I was witnessing one of nature's sacred events, the love bond between mother and child.