Carolina’s Story: Sea Turtles Get Sick Too!

This heartwarming photographic journal describes a critically ill sea turtle as she is nursed back to health at a Sea Turtle Hospital. Readers will empathize with Carolina as she undergoes many of the same medical treatments sick or injured children face and then celebrate the happy day when she returns to her home in the sea. The ＂For Creative Minds＂ section includes fun facts, information on conservation issues and a make-your-own sea turtle craft. Both Ms. Rathmell and Mrs. Bergwerf donate a portion of their royalties to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Program at the South Carolina Aquarium. Encourages children undergoing medical treatment. This work of narrative nonfiction includes a 3-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 43-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Carolina’s Story is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Barbara J. Bergwerf photo journals her nature-related volunteer involvement at the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital, the Island Turtle Team on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island, and the South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey. She’s collaborated with best-selling novelist Mary Alice Monroe to share butterfly and loggerhead sea turtle photos with children through A Butterfly Called Hope and the award-winning Turtle Summer: A Journal for my Daughter. Her incredible photos also grace the award-winning children’s book, Carolina’s Story: Sea Turtles Get Sick Too! Barbara thought that she was retiring when she and her husband moved to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Somehow retirement doesn’t seem to be in her vocabulary! Visit Barbara’s website: