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    Yertle the Turtle
    Unavailable
    Yertle the Turtle
    Unavailable
    Yertle the Turtle
    Audiobook8 minutes

    Yertle the Turtle

    Written by Dr. Seuss

    Narrated by John Lithgow

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Dr. Seuss presents three modern fables in the rhyming favorite Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. The collection features tales about greed (“Yertle the Turtle”), vanity (“Gertrude McFuzz”), and pride (“The Big Brag”). In no other book does a small burp have such political importance! Yet again, Dr. Seuss proves that he and classic picture books go hand in hand.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
    Release dateJun 27, 2006
    ISBN9780739339282
    Unavailable
    Yertle the Turtle
    Author

    Dr. Seuss

    Theodor Seuss Geisel – better known to his millions of fans as Dr. Seuss – was born the son of a park superintendent in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904. After studying at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and later at Oxford University in England, he became a magazine humorist and cartoonist, and an advertising man. He soon turned his many talents to writing children’s books, which included the creation of the one and only ‘The Cat in the Hat’, published in 1957.

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    Reviews for Yertle the Turtle

    4/5

    520 ratings31 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This book is frequently banned based on Yertle’s story and Mack demanding that the turtles on the bottom of the tower have rights just like those at the top. By many, this book is seen as too political. However, reading with a modern eye, I think that story two, Gertrude McFuzz would be just as, if not more problematic. Gertrude is not happy with who they are. They want a second feather just like someone else has. And she gets a doc to give it to her. But then she regrets it in the end. I know this story is meant to show that children are perfect the way they are, but at the same time it could be seen as anti-trans, or as transition regret. This book is a product of it’s time. This book shouldn’t be banned, but maybe it should just be left in the area of nostalgia.
    • 4/5
      This is a re-reader... funny, rhyming tales with really great moral lessons. It might be meant as much or more for the parent who is reading as for the child who is listening!
    • 4/5
      I know there is this whole historical connection, but as a child I learned the wonderful lesson of not putting myself above others, not bullying and working together. Who in their right mind would want to be Yertle?
    • 5/5
      This silly turtle tale teaches the importance of humility and not stepping on people to get where you want, in this case a stack of turtles. Yertle wanted so badly to be the king of everything but didn't about anyone but himself. It takes tumbling in the mud for him, and readers to come to that realization. Humility and lack of selfishness are big, yet difficult subjects to teach to young children. This book speaks where words fail as a parent or a teacher.
    • 4/5
      Good story, good morals.
    • 4/5
      "Yertle the Turtle", about a megalomaniacal turtle who is king of all he surveys and puts his subject turtles (literally) under his heel to expand upon that, may be the most political of the Dr. Seuss stories. This is followed by "Gertrude McFuzz", about a bird who finds out the hard way the folly of pining for what you do not have that others do, and "The Big Brag", about the folly of putting others down by pumping yourself up. A trio of Dr. Seuss stories with strong morals indeed.
    • 4/5
      “Yertle the turtle” is a story about greed, vanity, and pride. This book gives great examples of what a leader shouldn’t be like. Yertle orders other turtles to stack themselves so that he can see further. It was clear that Yertle’s greed created frustration among the other turtles. The story shows children that nobody likes to be around someone who is greedy, because they are never happy. Also, I liked this book because the descriptive writing throughout the story conveyed many messages. For example, the message of freedom was conveyed. “And the turtles, of course… all the turtles are free as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.” Lastly, I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book. Each illustration was very funny and depicted the text perfectly to help young readers. Overall, the main message of this book shows that if you’re greedy you will never come out on top.
    • 3/5
      Dr. Seuss is an amazing storyteller and tells us about a main character "Yertle the Turtle", who mans up to his community of turtles only to end up in mud. "Yertle the turtle", tries to do something unimaginable and unique. He basically tries to climb to the moon only to be toppled overhead and into the mud. Its a good book to pass time for sure since it has two other stories in it too. They are all about animals who have something to say about themselves. I would recommend it to again 2nd and third graders. Also the main message of the first story and the main one. Yertle the Turtle was that one should not aim no high as to works so much only to get nothing at the end. Instead one should try to work step by step moderately achieving their goal.
    • 4/5
      I love this book. It incorporates a three stories addressing morals and the result of having to be the best the best(which is not always the best) I like how Dr. Seuss was able to make a fun, humorous story addressing real life problems.
    • 5/5
      "Oh, Marvelous Me!" I truly love Yertle the Turtle. What a fantastic story told through a society of turtles. This story tells the tale of a dictator living off the backs of his people and only caring about his view from the top. In my opinion this story illustrates how power in a society lies with its people and those at the top are only there because of the hard work and sacrifice of those willing to support their society. But, a burp can shake the throne of a king and ultimately all creatures should be free.
    • 4/5
      “Yertle the Turtle” discusses how terrible it is to be a greedy person. Yertle wanted to control more and more things and was never satisfied with what he already had. Yertle’s greed created frustration among all the other turtles. The story shows children that nobody likes to be around someone who is greedy, because they are never happy. The book also teaches students the importance of freedom. The last line of the book states, “And the turtles, of course… all the turtles are free as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.” This powerful statement displays the importance that everyone deserves freedom. Yertle had forced all the turtles to obey his commands and made them act as his throne even though they were hungry and sore. He did not care about their well-being. This shows students how lucky Americans are because we have our freedom and are not ruled by someone else.
    • 5/5
      I havent much to say about this book, I might consider using it as a tool to help with a social studies lesson - depending the grade level
    • 3/5
      While I was aware of this story and the others in the book as a child, I didn't read this one very often since I didn't own it. I actually asked my fiance to read this to me before bed - and then of course promptly fell asleep, but it was nice nonetheless. I re-read it the next day.
    • 5/5
      Characters: Yertle the king turtle and his minions



      Setting: Pond



      Theme: You can lose all if you are greedy and dictate.

      Genre: Poetry

      Summary: This book tells the story of a king turtle who wants to see everythign around him. What happens is that he tells the other turtles to stack so that he could be on top and see everything. In the end, all of the turtles desert him. This is where he ends up with nothing in the end except with mud in his face.


      Audience: Children

      Curriculum ties: Ties to literature with learnign about rhyming words.

      Personal response: I have read many of Dr. Seuss books but I have never had the chance to read this book. Firs of all, I have always loved Dr. Seuss' books and how he uses language to get the readers interested in reading. His use of playing with words helps kids engage with the text. Furthermore, the art of Dr. Seuss, it what is mesmorizing. The contrast of the colors make the text fun and keeps it engaging. More importantly, his books always tells a story or moral. This is where it is important. This book tells the story that one should respect others and try not to be a dictator. This is where you can lose everything you have and end up in the mud just like the king in this book.
    • 5/5
      I recently read that this one has appeared (as have six other of Geisel’s books) on banned books lists throughout the United States and Canada. This story ends with, “And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free. As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.” What a great line and a wonderful message this is. Though this is one of Seuss’s shortest and most popular stories, his messages of authoritarianism and empowerment ring clear. Dr. Seuss admitted that his source for this story was the rise of Hitler (just like Yertle rose above the rest by stacking more and more turtles underneath him to gain more power).
    • 5/5
      Yertle the Turtle is king of all he sees. Everything is going well until he decides he cannot see enough. He orders a few other turtles to stand underneath him so he can extend his rule. He soon becomes obsessed with power, adding more and more turtles to the pile. What happens when the one on the bottom gets tired of being stepped on?
      I adore this book. It's wonderful and opens up a dialogue with children about a very complicated subject. It takes a sophisticated concept and simplifies it to an easily grasped moral. The rhyming is, of course, wonderful. This is one of my all-time favorite books. It's long so it makes a better read aloud for kindergarten and up. 2nd grade and up should be able to read it independently. This is another great text for engaging in complex subjects with low readers in the upper grades.
    • 5/5
      This was one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books growing up. The author wrote it in light of the events of the Holocaust and WWII. It is actually for sale at the Holocaust museum. Dr. Seuss did many books that were secretly propaganda for kids that taught them how to be better than what was going on in Germany with war and persecution of jews. This book can most definitely be used in a Juior High and High School setting to talk about history, but in an Elementary setting it would be best to just talk about bullying and authoritarianism. Dr. Seuss is also of course notorious for his rhyming free verse form of poetry which could also be used in an English/Language arts class in elementary grades. My student loved this book because of the silliness, but she also enjoyed the lesson it had to offer.
    • 5/5
      This book has a few different themes in it. There is one about being kind to others, liking oneself, and that arguing about things is just silly. I like this book because it teaches children valuable life lessons. I would use this book in my classroom to teach them different morals. I would recommend this book to children in grades Pre-K - 5th grade.
    • 4/5
      Yertle the turtle is king of the pond, but one day decides that his throne is too low and he wants to be higher so that he can see much more. Yertle commands all of the other turtles to stand atop one another, so they stack up 40 turtles high with Yertle on top. But this simply isn't good enough for Yertle because he is very greedy and wants to see even more. He commands another hundred or so turtles to join the others and lift him higher. One little turtle named Mack speaks up from below and tells King Yertle that his legs are getting tired, he is hungry, and his shell might crack from the weight of all the other turtles. Yertle doesn't care one bit, he just keeps adding more and more turtles to the stack in order to get higher and higher. Eventually, the turtle-stack is too tall and they all come tumbling down. Yertle lands face-first in a puddle of mud and the other turtles just laugh because they know he has gotten what he deserves.
    • 5/5
      Yertle the Turtle, Gertrude McFuzz, and The Big Brag are the three fun stories in this Dr. Seuss book. Yertle was King of the pond but he wanted to be King of all he could see so he built his throne higher so he could see farther, and farther. In Gertrude McFuzz she wishes to have a tale like Lolla-Lee-Lou so she eats berries that make your tale grow however she isn't satisfied and keeps eating until her tale is so long she can't even fly anymore and gets stuck on the mountain with the berries.In the Big Brag both a bear and a rabbit say they are better than the other until an old worm settles the argument by proving he is better than both and that they are silly for arguing. I love Dr.Seuss books and this proved to be another good one. It was interesting to see the hidden moral to the story that I hadn't really noticed before in Dr. Seuss books.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed reading this book. It's about a turtle, called Yertle, who is a king and forces all the other turtles to stand on one another just so he can climb up and be on top of the world. When he looks out and finds something that is higher than him, he brings in more turtles to help carry him. I really loved this book because it's interesting to see how political it really is, which hits an audience of all kinds of age groups. One of the powerful messages the book delivers is how to be considerate and not be greedy. I would recommend it for kids to read it, but I would also like it if these kids were to return to it later on in the years, because then they'd have a different kind of reading of what the book is delivering.
    • 5/5
      Yertle the Turtle is very greedy. He abuses his power and takes advantage of the other turtles. He ignores the requests of his "subjects," and he is over"thrown" because one turtle burped. This book illustrates how greed is an evil trait and power is short lived if the power is abused.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorite children's books of all time! There are three stories in this book. We usually read it during Read Across America Week. We also try to tie in our animal unit study of reptiles that week.
    • 4/5
      Well, he certainly had an interest in sharing political views. Whether this is good or bad depends, I guess, on whether you agree with him. He did it in a way that's not too preachy or annoying, that's a point in his favor.

      Here we have three stories, whose names I don't care to remember at this time. (The book is visiting Grandma with my nieces, so I have to post from memory. Forgive me.)

      In the first one - Yertle the Turtle! - we have a grandiose turtle king who insists on stacking all the turtles in his kingdom so he can see more and more and be king of more and more. And so it goes on until the one at the bottom, poor Mack, decides that he has rights too and shakes the whole throne. And now all turtles are free, the way turtles (and all people) are meant to be.

      Then we have one about a bird who wants more and more feathers until... okay, I can't remember this one, but it's a moral about selfishness and vanity (I believe).

      And the third, which I adore, is about a bear and a rabbit arguing over who is best until they're bested by a worm who claims he can see "all the way around the world" but, alas, all he sees is two big fools with nothing better to do than to argue about who is better than who!

      So we have three good stories, three easy morals (two and a half? I cannot, for the life of me, remember that middle moral!), and a nifty green cover. I like this book a lot.

      One note: This book is written for school-aged children. Please, don't get it for your baby.
    • 4/5
      Illustrations in color. Three modern fables in humorous pictures and verse.
    • 5/5
      This book has three stories in it. One is "Yertle the Turtle" about a king turtle who makes other turtles stand on their backs so he can have a tall throne. It gets stack so high, that it falls and Yertle falls into the mud. Another story was "Gertrude McFuzz" about a bird who wanted more feather that she had. She became to greedy to get feathers that it weighed her down and she couldn't fly anymore. The last one was called the "Big Brag" about a rabbit who told tall tales and started a competition with a bear and worm, and loses because he lies.
    • 5/5
      This is another great story talking about compromise. A good book for all ages with pictures and different length's of sentences.
    • 5/5
      My young daughters and I love to read this book at bedtime. When Yertle's dictatorship collapses, my 3 year old cheers. This book has universal themes that are good for children of all ages 1-99.
    • 4/5
      I remembering reading this to my "classroom" when I was a little girl. I don't know what it is about this story but I do love it. I think it is a great story about being nice and considerate. Even more in depth, it is about not stepping on the little people because it will come back to hurt you. I think this is a good book to read to younger children and also a good book for beginning readers.
    • 4/5
      The illustrations are clever, and the stories are amusing, and they all contain underlying morals that children can benefit from. I would definitely read this to my students.