I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Leopold by Dr. Ruth Westheimer and illustrated by Suzanne Beaky is a cute story about a turtle afraid to join the other turtles in the lake. Full of beautiful illustrations and prose, it was an easy read for my little one and kept his attention from the first word (not an easy feat for a 4 year old little boy!).

The story starts with Ben, Ruth's grandson, who is afraid to join the soccer team. His first practice is that afternoon and he is thinking about just not going. Grandma Ruth then tells him Leopold's story.

All the young turtles were sunning on rocks.
There was Boxy, Snappy, Shelly, and Socks.
They were busy soaking up the sun's rays,
Something they always did on beautiful days.

Only Leopold remained on the shore;
It's not that he liked the shade so much more,
but he was too afraid to leave the safety of his home,
and so he stayed in one place, never to roam.

Leopold's story is perfect for little one's who may have a fear of something. For us (and probably more me than little man), it's starting preschool. This book uses easy to understand language to convey that it's okay to be scared, but keep moving forward! You'll never know what you'll like until you try it ;)

And Ben learns just that! Listening to his Grandma Ruth he goes to practice AND he had a good time. Leopold is a turtle we can all learn from as we learn to conquer our fears.