Meet FIRE CHIEF: The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle

 Stories can come from endless sources- cloud shapes, playing with pets, personal drama, or a fertile imagination. Nonfiction content, especially narrative nonfiction, begins somewhere and sometime long before anything goes to press. It might be sparked by an encounter with some surprising information. Or it can begin with an "I wonder" question, a casual observation, or with a keen interest and investigation of facts that somehow involves a path to a picture book.

CLARION BOOKS, 2025

Author Sy Montgomery's nonfiction books have long been favorites of mine, because they have captured the attention and curiosity of so many students of many ages. A picture book authored by Montgomery will always be on my to-read list. That's why I waited patiently on library hold to get a chance to read THE TRUE AND LUCKY LIFE OF A TURTLE, written by Sy Montgomery and illustrated by Matt Patterson. With the kind of luck and support FIRE CHIEF has had in his already long life, he could still be chugging along when everyone reading here is a grandparent, or even a great-grandparent.  He is currently estimated to be about sixty years old, still a young adult in turtle lifespans when all goes well.

Yes, that means that FIRE CHIEF's projected lifespan will be greater than any human's. That presents a challenge to tell his story in a way that spans his longevity while making his present and past feel immediate and important. But that challenge was met and exceeded by this creative team. (More about the author and illustrator below.)

The accuracy of illustrations, from birth through early development and throughout his story, allows curious readers to experience the vulnerability of a just-hatched turtle trying to follow instincts and survive. Author notes make it clear that the discussions of early egg/hatchling depictions are conjecture, based on knowledge of turtles and the geography in which Fire Chief lives.

Using these assumptions to suggest this turtle's early life allows readers to invest in and marvel at survival and its determination to reach a small pond. To do so, it crossed a dirt road near a fire station and makes its way to its next home. There it continued to face threats across years of slow growth and learning. Over the course of a human generations, the local community of firefighters and their families observed a sizable turtle sunning on a log. 

They dubbed him FIRE CHIEF.

They and their families enjoyed his company, including observations of his annual road-crossing return to a larger pond, better suited for winter hibernation in the deep mud. Across years of time the families and firefighters grew older, as Fire Chief did. As the community did. And as the road grew, was paved, as traffic increased, as the crossing became more dangerous. 

Okay- that's all I will say. 

Just remember the title- this is a turtle with a LUCKY life. 

And know that the two talented folks who created and share this TRUE story of a REAL turtle with the actual name FIRE CHIEF came to know about this turtle and its story directly. They are neighbors who both volunteer with a turtle-rescue organization that plays a role in Fire Chief's life (okay, spoiler). The author and illustrator collaborated on two earlier turtle books based on their many years of expertise and education on the topic of turtles. FIRE CHIEF's life and story launched this book, and the factual content is indisputable. Resources and credentials, including back notes, photos, and backstory provide entertainment and education on their own.

The magnificence of this book (and I chose that descriptor intentionally) is in the success of showcasing FIRE CHIEF as an individual, and as an individual with a specific life, a survivor of its species, as a lived and living example despite the many ways in which nature restricts their survival, and as human development/encroachment on habitat does. It also reveals practical ways in which human attention and intervention can contribute to survival, during crisis and also proactively/preventively. 

Through it all, FIRE CHIEF shines through not as a caricature or cartoon, nor as a mascot or pet. This creature has dignity and value. As such, he serves as a reminder to us to take closer looks at all living things, to avoid mindless damage or development. To seek balance and respect in our choices.

On a side note, I actively link to the authors and illustrators of each book featured in posts, hoping that readers here might check out more about them and their other works. In this case, do yourself a favor and click on the links to Montgomery and Patterson.Their websites are an education in a range of topics and will offer links to their other books as well. 

BRAVE BABY HUMMINGBIRD: What a Wonder!

 Anyone who reads my posts will know that I am an unabashed bird lover. Any book that involves birds, especially books that reveal deep understanding of actual species and their traits,  has my attention immediately. If the subject happens to be birds that I've personally experienced,  the book has an enormous head start to my heart. This next picture book scores on every point and doesn't disappoint. 

A Paula Wiseman Book, 2024
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

BRAVE BABY HUMMINGBIRD is written by superb nonfiction author Sy Montgomery, and illustrated by Tiffany Bozic. Each of these creators is a nature-specialist in their own right, but together  their work transports readers into the actual world of two actual baby hummingbirds. It is rare for even one hummingbird (of any age) to survive the conditions or events that might deposit them into untrained hands, but these two landed with a knowledgeable naturalist who knows how to ask the right questions. 

(As a former licensed wildlife rescuer, I was concerned that the story told might encourage readers to attempt to raise or rehabilitate wild birds themselves, but Montgomery's author note and back matter makes clear the importance of caring for wildlife properly. "The voice", who represents the human giving care to the orphaned hummingbird pair, mentions having ten years of training to know when, how, and why to prepare the hummers for the real world. 

Montgomery offers many ways in which people can help on their own while still providing these critters with the skilled and trained support they require.)

I'm not usually a fan of assuming a first-person voice to convey realistic information from an animal subject, but this is an example of doing it well. More than well. There is very little attempt to suggest emotions and motivations, other than the realistic hunger and fear experienced when the parent hummer does not return to the nest. Otherwise, the narrative reveals observations, reactions, impulses, and actions that carry readers through the first full year of life for two hummers hatched in a nutshell sized nest, born the size of a bumblebee. Everything described reveals Montgomery's research into the process of raising and releasing baby birds, particularly hummingbirds, while celebrating their uniquely small size and remarkable flight patterns. 

The illustrations are both accurately detailed and inspiringly artistic, elevating an already jaw-dropping species to near-magical. Each visual element adds to the information base readers gain in exploring this lovely and lively book. 

As a side note, this is another of those picture books that will hook adults. I suspect that Montgomery may have read a memoir/informational book about humming birds that I often recommend. Anyone who is intrigued with hummers should seek it out: 

FASTEST THINGS ON WINGS: RESCUING HUMMINGBIRDS IN HOLLYWOOD, by Terry Masear, Harper Collins, 2016.