Andy the tortoise wants one thing and one thing only. He would give anything to know about his first home. He remembers bits and pieces of his past, but he yearns to find out more about who he really is. His friend Audi the cat knows just enough about Andy to share that he is a spurred tortoise. With this information in hand, the two set out to do a little digging and determine Andy’s origins. The pair, with nothing but determination and curiosity in hand, find themselves traveling from the railroad tracks to, strangely enough, the immigration office. Will they leave with answers or more questions?

Finding Andy’s Home, written by Gloria D. Gonsalves and illustrated by Silja Schuler, is a fictional children’s book based on the life of an African tortoise who finds himself in Germany wondering about his home. Franziska Maciszonek, the translator, provides readers with the unique opportunity to experience Andy and Audi’s adventure in both English and German.

Andy and Audi are fast friends, and their odd couple dynamic makes them both a delightful and memorable pair for young readers. Gonsalves’s short chapter book makes for an interesting read as it includes references to pop culture meshed seamlessly with facts about tortoises encompassed in a well-written animal fantasy. I appreciated the softness of Schuler’s illustrations. Each one beautifully emphasizes Gonsalves’s sweet storyline.

I can see Finding Andy’s Home, written by Gloria D. Gonsalves and illustrated by Silja Schuler’s fitting well into a thematic unit on tortoises or serving as a paired text for a book like Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot. Teachers and homeschool parents alike will delight in Gonsalves’s educational contribution and Schuler’s lovingly-crafted illustrations.

Pages: 46 | ASIN: B0B73ZYC1N