I loved this book! First, I loved how the story was mostly realistic, yet the author allowed many of the animals to communicate with humans. The character of the Turtle was very entertaining, and I felt that his personality (scholarly and modest) perfectly personified the animal. Second, I loved the way the author write the dialogue. The dialogue was extremely lyrical. For example, the villagers say:
"Grass, plants, bees, bells
sky, birds, sees, shells
guava, plantains, mango trees
call them anything you please.
They will always be the same
cause Granny is your Granny's name."
The poetry style of the dialogue was extremely enjoyable and added to the cultural relevance of this story from the West Indies. In addition, I loved the colorful watercolor illustrations. They added to the magical realism of the story.
The big picture of this book is that one should have respect and take pride in his/her name. ( )

I enjoyed the book Turtle Knows Your Name by Ashley Bryan. One thing I like about the book is that Ashley Bryan is both the author and the illustrator, which allows the her to have illustrations that match the writing, and this book does that. The images are bright and colorful and add substance to the story. I enjoyed the book being written from the point of view of the grandson. It allowed us to be inside the mind of a child and see his feelings and reactions. The plot was very suspenseful as we keep wondering if the boy will ever hear someone say his name. The big idea of this story is to not be afraid to be unique and have some individuality. ( )

Turtle Knows Your Name is such a cute story. I really enjoyed the characters and their relationship to each other. In this story, you can see how important family is considering the boy's grandmother is the only person who can say his name. I also really enjoyed the writing. On a couple of the pages, they sing a couple lines of a song. I thought adding these little bits of songs made the book more enjoyable to read. I thought the writing was also very engaging and descriptive. I definitely wanted to keep reading to figure out if anyone was ever going to be able to say the little boys name. I think the big idea in this story is to always stay positive. The boy gets discourage every time someone calls him "long name" instead of his actually name but he doesn't give up on hoping that one day, people will actually call him by his real name. ( )

Upsilimana Tumpalaredo struggles, first to learn his own name, and then to teach it to his friends, in this Caribbean folktale, retold by award-winning African-American artist and author, Ashley Bryan. When none of his contemporaries can remember it, calling him "Long Name" instead, Upsilimana Tumpalaredo takes to playing with the animals, only to discover that they too refuse to address him properly, mooing and bleah-bleahing instead. Only Turtle knows his name, but then, Turtle knows all the names - something that proves very useful, when Upsilimana Tumpalaredo's Granny demands that he discover her name (Mapaseedo Jackalindy Eye Pie Tackarindy), if he wants his dessert...

I adore turtles, so I was probably guaranteed to enjoy this folktale, but even if that weren't so, I think Turtle Knows Your Name would still have engaged my interest. The rhythm and rhyme of the text itself, the fun names - sure to appeal to young reader/listeners who've struggled with their own complicated names - and Ashley Bryan's appealing pastel-shaded illustrations, all combine to create a winning picture-book! My only complaint is that I'm not entirely sure of this story's provenance. Apparently, it is originally found in Elsie Clews Parsons' Folk-Lore of the Antilles, French and English Part II, published in 1936. But where in the Antilles? The Virgin Islands, Trinidad? I wish I knew... ( )