Turtle at Home

7/29/2019 Turtle at Home

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/turtle-at-home 1/19

by Rachel Kranz

illustrated by Diane Blasius



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ISBN 0-15-323166-1

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ISBN 0-15-325518-8 (Grade 3 On-Level Collection)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 026 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01



Chapters

Rosa Finds a Friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Turtles in Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

What Rosa Does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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by Rachel Kranz

illustrated by Diane Blasius



2

Rosa Finds a Friend

Rosa looked around as the car stopped.

“This is a great spot, Aunt Lydia!” she said.

She pointed to a brook in the woods. It was

a short walk from the car.

Rosa’s aunt laughed because Rosa wasso eager.“OK, Rosita, OK!” she said.“I’m

hungry, too!”

“It’s not that,” Rosa said. She picked

up the blanket. Her aunt took the picnic

basket.“I’ve never been in the woodsbefore. That’s all.”



3

Aunt Lydia shook her head.“That’s right.

I forgot. You don’t have a forest near where

you live. Well, let’s find the best picnic spot

we can!”

Rosa looked at all the wonderful sights.She saw tall trees and tiny yellow flowers.

Gray mushrooms grew in the soft green

grass. She could smell the leaves and earth.

She heard the birds singing and the leaves

shaking.“It’s great out here,” Rosa sighed.“Just great!”



4

Aunt Lydia set out their picnic blanket.

She and Rosa sat down by the brook. Rosa

poured lemonade into two plastic cups. She

waited for her sandwich.

“We have two kinds—,” Aunt Lydia began.

Rosa interrupted her.

“Aunt Lydia! Look!” Rosa jumped up and

ran to the brook. She came back carrying

something tiny.



6

“Baby turtles’ shells are still soft,” Aunt

Lydia said.“This one’s shell is hard.”

“Is it male or female?” Rosa asked.

“It’s female,” Aunt Lydia said.“See? Her

eyes are brown. The males have red eyes.”

Aunt Lydia knew a lot about turtles. She

had been trained as a scientist. She worked

at a museum, studying animals.



7

Rosa did not take her eyes off the turtle.

She had never seen anything like it.

“I’m going to take her home!” Rosa said.

“I’ll feed her every day! She’ll have her very

own cage. She’ll be my own special prizefrom the woods.”

Rosa noticed that Aunt Lydia didn’t say

anything. She was just standing there,

watching Rosa.

“What’s wrong, Aunt Lydia?” Rosa finallyasked.“Aren’t you happy for me?”



8

Turtles in Trouble “Yes, I’m happy for you,” Aunt Lydia said.

“I’m not so happy for the turtle, though.”

“Why not, Aunt Lydia? I’ll take good

care of her!”

“Do you know what she eats?”“Umm, lettuce?” Rosa asked.

“She might eat that,” Aunt Lydia

answered,“but she needs mushrooms, too.”

“I could give her those,” Rosa said.

“She also eats worms, slugs, snails, and

insects,” Aunt Lydia went on.



9

“Oh,” said Rosa.“Maybe we can get

them at the pet store. They sell turtles at the

pet store. They must sell turtle food.”

“There’s another thing,” said Aunt Lydia.

“Box turtles live in lots of different places.Each one has a way of finding its own

home. They are very wise that way. Right

now, this one lives in a burrow near here.

Do you know what would happen if you

moved her?”Rosa shook her head.



10

“She would leave and try to find her

home,” Aunt Lydia explained. Then she

pointed to a tree that was far away.

“Suppose you moved her over there,” she

said.“She would be completely lost.”“Well, now her home will be with me!”

Rosa said.

“No, Rosa,” said Aunt Lydia.“Her home is

here, where she was born. If you take her,

she’ll keep looking for her home. She’ll lookfor years and years.”



11

“That sounds terrible!” cried Rosa. She

looked down at the little turtle.

“There’s one more thing,” Aunt Lydia said.

“In the woods, turtles can live a long time.They can live for one hundred years or

more. Each year after they turn twelve, they

lay eggs.”

“That sounds like a lot of eggs,” Rosa said.

“There must be lots of babies here. Nobodywill notice if I take just one!”



What Rosa Does

“I told you about baby turtles’ soft shells,”Aunt Lydia said.

Rosa nodded. She stroked the shell with

one finger.

“Well, this turtle’s hard shell protects her

from many dangers. Babies are not so lucky.This turtle may lay a hundred eggs in her life.

Guess how many will grow up.”

“One hundred?” Rosa guessed. Aunt

Lydia shook her head.“Fifty?” Aunt Lydia

shook her head again.“Twenty?”

12



13

“Only two or three,” said Aunt Lydia. It was

Rosa’s turn to shake her head.

“If you take the turtle, she might not

lay any more eggs. Soon there won’t be

many turtles left in the forest,” AuntLydia explained.

“Right now, a few missing turtles may

not matter,” she said.“It will make a big

difference later on.When I was little, there

were many turtles here. Now there arevery few.”

hace cuarenta años



14

“I understand, Aunt Lydia,” Rosa said.She lifted the turtle and looked into its

eyes. It was like the turtle was sending her

a message. Rosa lowered her hand to

the ground.

“Good-bye,” she said sadly.“I hope youcan still find your home.”



“I think she can,” Aunt Lydia said. She

put her arm around Rosa.“You hardly

moved her.”

Aunt Lydia and Rosa watched the little

turtle. Rosa saw how the sun lit up the

turtle’s back.

“I’m proud of you, Rosita,” Aunt Lydia said.

“I think you did the right thing.”

Rosa looked up at Aunt Lydia.“I know

I did the right thing, Aunt Lydia,” she said.

“Thanks for teaching me about turtles.”

15



16

Rosa took one last look at the turtle.“I’ll

miss her, though,” she said.“Could we come

back and visit her sometimes?”Aunt Lydia smiled.“I think we could,”

she said.

Rosa smiled, too. She jumped to her feet.

“Come on, Aunt Lydia,” she said.“Let’s

clean up our picnic stuff. We don’t want toleave any litter in our friend’s home!”



1 Where does this story take place?2 What do you think the author wants to teach

us about turtles?3 Why is it important for Rosa to leave the

turtle in the woods?4 How do you think Aunt Lydia feels about

selling turtles in pet stores? Why?5 How do Rosa’s feelings about taking the

turtle change from the beginning of the

story to the end?6 If you were Rosa, how might you feel about

leaving the turtle?

Poster Share what you have learned about

box turtles. Make a poster telling how and whythey need to be protected.

Think and Respond

School-Home Connection Rosa and Aunt

Lydia helped the turtle by leaving it in its home.

They were also careful not to leave any litter

around after their picnic. Make a list of ways

that you and your family members can help

protect animals and the environment.

Turtle at Home

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Transcript of Turtle at Home