“Peaceful and pensive” Truman, a tortoise, is also keenly observant. He notices Sarah’s new sweater, big backpack, and her delivery of two extra green beans to his food dish. From the window Truman watches Sarah, who is white, board the number 11 bus and after waiting for “a thousand hours—tortoise hours, that is”—he decides to go after her. The trek from his aquarium across the apartment is a daylong herculean effort, and Sarah returns just as he’s about to squeeze under the door. When she reads her handmade booklet aloud for his bedtime story, Truman learns that he’ll accompany her out the door sometime soon when Sarah takes him for show-and-tell at her new school. An exceptional text and illustrations that extend the humorous and heartfelt narrative successfully combine themes of starting school, adventure, and friendship. Honor Book, 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3–7)

An NPR Favorite Book of 2019
A New York Times Best Children’s book of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019
A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2019

"An enchanting tale of bravery, heroism, and undying devotion." —The New York Times Book Review

After his best friend Sarah leaves for her first day of school, a tortoise named Truman goes on an adventure across the living room and learns to be brave in this thoughtful and heartwarming twist on a first experience story.

Truman the tortoise lives with his Sarah, high above the taxis and the trash trucks and the number eleven bus, which travels south. He never worries about the world below…until one day, when Sarah straps on a big backpack and does something Truman has never seen before. She boards the bus!

Truman waits for her to return.
He waits.
And waits.
And waits.
And when he can wait no longer, he knows what he must do.

Even if it seems…impossible!