I do like these "day in the life of an animal" picture books the Smithsonian puts out; they're excellent examples of science communication for kids. In this one, a box turtle goes hunting for food, escapes a raccoon, and lays some eggs. I did have to laugh at the caveat in front of the story, in which kids are told that just because the box turtle eats random mushrooms it doesn't mean that they should! Good advice, but I await the day I come across a Smithsonian Backyard book about mushrooms.

I'm not particularly enamoured by the illustrations in this one, though. Usually they're excellent in this series, and the drawings in Box Turtle are certainly competent. They do seem a little blurry compared to the other books, though, a little less sharp-edged. It probably doesn't help that the colour palette is fairly murky. I know a lot of the book takes place at night, but even so.