#17 in Picture books
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
- 86
- Pages
- about 1.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories” is a funny, pointed set of three Dr. Seuss tales that mock pride and greed. In the best known, Yertle, king of the pond, stacks his subjects ever higher to rise above the Moon, until the turtle at the bottom upsets the whole tower. The bouncing verse is a pleasure to read aloud, and some readers remember it as one of the first books they read alone.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories is a picture book collection by Theodor Seuss Geisel, published under his more commonly known pseudonym of Dr. Seuss. It was first released by Random House Books on April 12, 1958, and is written in Seuss's trademark style, using a type of meter called anapestic tetrameter. Though it contains three short stories, it is mostly known for its first story, "Yertle the Turtle", in which the eponymous Yertle, king of the pond, stands on his subjects in an attempt to reach higher than the Moon—until the bottom turtle burps and he falls into the mud, ending his rule.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.7 across 57 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 28% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Picture books average of 8.3. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.7 | 12 | 21% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 45 | 79% |
Frequently asked
What age is Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories for?
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 86 pages — longer than 96% of the ranked books in Picture books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Picture books — with scores between 8.0 and 8.3, closest to this book.
