The Story of King Yertle

January 9th

Maddie would just like to give a bit of background on the story of Yertle the Turtle for those who are not familiar with Dr. Seuss's tale.

Yertle the Turtle is king of the pond. He sits on his stone, his throne, and rules over the turtles and the pond. But Yertle is the king of all he can see. "But I don't see enough! That's the trouble with me!" So Yertle calls to his subjects and orders a tower of turtles to be built for him so he can see further and expand his kingdom. As he is delighted by his gorwing power over the surrounding area, he insists that more turtles be stacked to create an even larger throne, despite the protest from Mack, a turtle stuck at the bottom of the pile. Yertle ignores the plea of the tired turtle and commands the participation of every single turtle in his quest to become higher than the moon. But as Yertle is about to give the order, Mack lets out a mighty burp that shakes the tower and sends the turtle king into the mud, which becomes the only thing he can see and so the only thing he may rule over.

"And the turtles, of course, all the turtles were free
as turtles and maybe all creatures should be"

-Maddie Stephens