Limu the Blue Turtle and His Hawaiian Garden

by Kimo Armitage, Scott Kaneshiro (Illustrator)

Limu the blue turtle, lovable main character of the best-selling children's book by the same name, is back in another heart-warming adventure. Jonah, a whale Limu befriended in the first book, returns with a gift for Limu. This gift is the catalyst for Limu's journey to the Faraway-Forest. Along the way, Limu meets a beautiful pink turtle named Coral. Young readers will enjoy following Limu and Coral as they embark on a great adventure to the Faraway-Forest and back to Limu's Hawaiian garden.

Genres: Childrens

28 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Cberry2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character is Limu. The problem was when Jonah the whale gave Limu a seaweed tree. The problem got solved when a pink turtle named Coral came and let her friends put the seaweed tree back. My favorite part is when they put the seaweed tree back.

[Alexandria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to set a spoiler tag for a kids' book, but I'm going into the plot on this one...

I loved this book, and I rarely add kids books of this level to my favorites shelf.

Limu is a book all about the dangers of invasive plant species, even one introduced in a friendly way.

Limu has a beautiful underwater garden where lots of marine life live. One day a friend of his brings him a cutting from the Far Away Forest, which grows into a huge tree (think giant column of seaweed). As invasive species are wont to do, this kills off the native vegetation and the rest of the fish all leave. Limu then sets out to return the plant to its home and meets some new friends along the way.

It is never too early to teach kids about stewardship and conservation. While it is important to keep lots of different types of plants growing, and contained growth can be okay (after all, many cultures now rely on foods that weren't always native to their locations) but we have to be mindful of the impacts those plants will have when they get into the wild. Round my area, homeowners are constantly fighting European Blackberries and garlic mustard

Books like these go a long way to encourage children in their understanding of stewardship, as Limu is mindful when he makes the decision to return the giant tree to its home and save the rest of his garden.

I will definitely buy a copy of this book for my kids' shelves when the time comes.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good story that explains how even one small change can have a big impact in any given ecology. One little seaweed tree grew so big that it overshadowed all of the other plants. This eventually destroyed Limu's beautiful garden, so it's up to him to fix it. Our girls love stories about sea turtles and this is an entertaining tale. The illustrations are colorful and similar to those by Yuko Green.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for younger kids about invasive algae (without using the word "invasive") and also conveys a more complicated message than just "algae bad"... It actually explains that algae is good when it is where it is suppose to be! Cute drawings, too.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. The illustrations were totally adorable. I loved the colorful turtles swimming through the pages! I thought the story taught us a lot about the importance of not changing an underwater habitat, and that the littlest change can effect many species!

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about turtles and invasive species.

[Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gift to my daughter from her aunt who visited Hawaii. We've read it at least three times and the story is cute. A turtle who is adds a plant to his garden which happens to change his garden and then the story goes on from there. Pretty illustrations as well