Franklin Fibs

Franklin the Turtle

by Paulette Bourgeois, Brenda Clark (Illustrations)

In order to match his friends' boasts, Franklin the turtle claims that he can swallow seventy-six flies in the blink of an eye, but then he has to prove it

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Canada, Friendship, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bourgeois graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational therapy from the University of Western Ontario in 1974. She was a psychiatric occupational therapist for three years before deciding to focus on her writing. She studied journalism at Carlton University then worked as a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen and CBC Television. She became a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C. contributing pieces to Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Reader's Digest and Maclean's. She returned to Toronto in 1983.

In 2003, she became a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2007, she received an Honourary Doctor of Laws from her alma mater, the University of Western Ontario.

Reviews

[Tym]

A really good lesson for young readers with beautiful illustrations.

[Rena Sherwood]

I gave in to the Dark Side and read my first Franklin the Turtle book.

And it wasn't bad. Perhaps the best thing about the book (besides the fabulous art) is that kids get to learn the old word "fib." It's an untruth, but not quite as bad as a lie. Usually, no one gets hurt if you tell a fib. (Unless you're a fly. Franklin's fib is that he can eat 76 flies in the blink of an eye. Franklin is a budding poet (or greeting card writer, at least) and may be a silent fan of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The back of the book states that "it's always better to tell the truth." No, kids, it's not. There are times when it's better to lie. Sometimes, lying will save your life.

For example, if a woman or girl ever asks you, "Does my butt look too big in this?" THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS NO.

Anyway, the art by Brenda Clark is the star of the show here. She does cutesy turtles, bears and beavers, but does a really intricate hawk. The hawk alone gave this book an extra star.

Now, I wonder what species Franklin and his family are supposed to be.

[Martin Steffens]

Unfortunately not enough negative repercussions for fibbing to dissuade readers from fibbing in the future, that’s the only thing keeping it from being a 5star

-read with Paul

[ثمین پذیرائی]

همسرم داشت میگفت بچگیش این کتاب رو خونده بوده 😍😁👌🏼پس منم خوندمش

[apple]

I absolutely loved the Franklin show as a kid, so this was one I really wanted to pick up. I think lying is a very relatable topic for children because it's a behavior that can happen without them fully understanding the consequences. In this story, Franklin tells a lie to fit in with his peers and I think that's something many children can relate to. Childhood often comes with comparisons and a desire to seem cool, which can lead kids to exaggerate, tell little white lies, or pretend they can do things they actually can't.

I think the book did a good job of showing the emotions that come with telling a big lie. You can see Franklin become increasingly anxious as he scrambles to figure out how to eat flies and maintain the lie he told. It illustrates how one lie can quickly snowball and create stress. However, I don't think the book fully explained why lying is harmful or clearly encouraged children to make honest choices instead. While the consequences of Franklin's lie are shown, I would have liked a stronger conversation about the importance of honesty, trust, and accepting yourself without feeling the need to impress others.

[Emily Mote]

Summary: When Franklin turtle lies to his friends and tells them he can eat 76 flies in the blink of an eye, he immediately regrets it. Each of his friends were able to show off the talent they claimed to have. However, Franklin could not because he had lied. He worried about what to do, but eventually decided to tell his friends the truth.

Teaching Ideas: As a teacher, I would implement this book in my classroom to teach the importance of honesty. This book would be great for lower grades. I could have a mini unit on character traits, and use this when learning about honesty.

Evaluation: I personally love Franklin books. I love this one because it contains a valuable lesson, but also has an interesting story line. The illustrations are also well done.

[Manda Marigold]

In this book, Franklin lies to his friends and quickly learns that his boastful behavior can put him in difficult situations. Throughout the book, Franklin begins to understand the importance of telling the truth.

[Alireza Emami]

روز اول رجب 31 فروردین 94 هدیه گرفتمش

[Evelyn]

Read this to my granddaughter several times.

[Stephanie]

Darling book about lying, conflicted emotions about admitting a lie, and making things right with people you lied to. Franklin is a cute, relatable turtle and the ending is sweet and appropriate.

[Yujan]

Good

[Ruth]

love these books

[Kami]

Изключително много ми хареса и тази история за костенурчето Франклин.

[Jamie Uribe]

So nostalgic for me. I loved reafing these as a kid and love it as an adult. I read this book to my son, and he has so much fun reading it. So wholesome.

[J.B. Mathias]

The artwork in this one is especially excellent

[توبة لي]

I adore their little homes, so .. homely and inviting. I'd live there.

[Zoey]

A great story about how it is best to tell the truth and share your talents.

[Danielle]

Franklin bakes a pie with 76 flies, but I feel like it would take an incredibly long time to catch that many for just one pie.

[KhiN’Millie Friesen]

Franklin should not have lied about the flies. He had to tell the truth - Khi 4

[Marlaine Legault]

The story is about boasting about things you cannot do to impress others. The storyline was not so exciting but the drawings by Brenda Clark were quite nice.

[Kristian]

A must read for children

[Desa Rae]

My kids are all Franklin fans. The moral of this story is don’t tell lies to impress your friends. Be yourself.

[Emily]

4/5⭐️

[Themountainbookie]

As someone who follows attachment parenting. I really appreciate this book. The parents never tell Franklin what to do but still give loving guidance. How awesome!

[Alicia Rotter]

Franklin is embarrassed that he doesn't have any talents to share with is friends, so he makes one up and tells them he can eat 76 flies in on gulp. Immediately Franklin feels guilty about his decision and tries to find out to solve this issue.

There is obvious didacticism in this book; it is not good to tell lie to your fiends. I like how the book brings in the process of what it feels like to feel guilty for telling a lie or doing something wrong. I also really appreciated that Franklin went to his parents for this issue. A lot of the time we are afraid to tell our parents something, but this book depicts the parents still being there for Franklin even though he made a wrong decision with his friends. In the end, he tells the truth and decides not to lie to his friends again.

Another aspect of the book I found incredibly beautiful are the illustrations. They were very realistic in the way the illustrator drew the animals in the book. However, at times it felt as if Franklin did not fit in with the pictures. He was much brighter than the rest of his friends, and I thought this was an interesting way of drawing attention to Franklin. Although, I was so distracted by how beautiful the illustrations and feel that it added a lot to the quality of the book.

[Erik]

Another old-school Franklin book. This one is even better than the previous one (Hurry Up, Franklin). It's probably going to feel a bit weird for people who are more familiar with Franklin's usual style. As typical with the first few books, the characters are drawn realistically, and Franklin is very small compared to the other characters. Surprisingly, Beaver is shown walking on all fours in two of the pictures - something she never did in later books. It's interesting to see how the art has evolved from the early Franklin books to the more modern ones.

The book has a nice message, and it delivers it well without being preachy.

[Christina]

This time, Franklin the turtle tells a lie to avoid getting into trouble after accidentally breaking his father's camera. As the lie grows, Franklin finds himself caught in a web of deceit that begins to affect his relationships with his friends and family. Throughout the book, Franklin learns about the consequences of lying and the importance of honesty and taking responsibility for his actions. The story teaches young readers valuable lessons about integrity and the impact of telling the truth.

[Lynn Davidson]

Franklin’s friends are all talking about what they can do, and Franklin doesn’t think he does anything special. He doesn’t want to be left out, and forgetting what he can do, he made up something. That fib became super hard to deal with so that he told his parents about his problem. Faced by his friends expecting him to prove what he said, Franklin had a decision to make. Great story and illustrations.

[Kest Schwartzman]

It's a little confusing that all the characters OTHER than Franklin are drawn in a fairly realistic style, and he isn't, but otherwise- pretty cute, story has a moral without being overly preachy, and the characters are all pretty likable.

I like the realism of the message, too. It's not "you shouldn't lie because it is wrong" but rather "you shouldn't lie because you'll embarrass yourself"

[D'Anne]

We were in the library and when my son saw this book he yelled, "Franklin!" I had never heard of this character before in my life, but he apparently plays a role in my son's. The book was okay. Moral of the story: don't tell lies to impress your friends. I can get behind that.