Franklin the Turtle was one of my favorite series as a child. Written by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark, Franklin goes through a new life experience or an adventure in every single book. For example, some titles in the series are called Franklin Goes to the Hospital and Franklin Meets a New Friend.
At this point there are more than 50 books in the series, not including Franklin Collections. Bourgeois never planned on writing Franklin in the Dark into an entire series, but Kids Can Press asked her to write a second book. Her inspiration came from situations her own children were going through. Sharon Jennings took over writing the series after Bourgeois and Clark had written around 30 of the books and wanted to tackle new projects.
Franklin the Turtle has 2 loving parents, a baby sister (introduced much later in the series), a stuffed dog named Sam who he continually communicates with and a goldfish named Goldie. He loves to play soccer, baseball, learn new things and play with all of his friends.
Franklin has also graced the television screen twice as an animated series. Once in 1997 and the other, most recently in 2011 with Franklin and Friends. The series that was shown on television in 1997 is the one that I fell in love with. The series from 2011 was a CGI-animated series, seen in the picture above, and I didn't like it particularly. You can see what the 1997 Franklin the Turtle looked like in the video of his theme song!
If you're looking for a book that will relate to what kids are going through in everyday life, look no further. I loved reading these as a kid, solely for that reason. If Franklin could figure out how to sleep in the dark, then so could I. While it may seem "outdated" for some children these days, it is a wonderful series to introduce to any younger children in your life.
Do you remember reading these books or seeing the show on television as you were growing up? Did you have a favorite book or episode?
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