Always longing for a quiet life, Sunny Boy, a tortoise, recounts his life saga, from almost becoming turtle soup in New York City to being taken in by a mild-mannered horticulturist, Pelonius Pimplewhite. Since "men do not live as long as tortoises," Sunny Boy stays on in the family as a companion to Pelonius's nephew Cornelius, the stamp collector; then to Cornelius's nephew, Augustus, the Latin scholar; and finally, to Biff, a self-proclaimed "daredevil extraordinaire." For the stunt of the century, Biff plans to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, and in an odd twist of fate, Sunny Boy goes, too.

Sunny Boy's droll personal narrative and endearingly expressive watercolors are fetchingly far-fetched, but you'll be stunned to find, in the notes on the final page, that indeed, a century-old tortoise named Sunny Boy did go over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1930 and survived, and then lived at the Niagara Falls Museum for another 40 years. Children may be curious to find out more about the eight daredevils portrayed on the endpapers-seven men and one woman-who made the plunge.

Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully involves another Niagara Falls daredevil, and is loosely based on the exploits of highwire artist, Blondin. You can read and compare these two stories. Taking an actual event from history or the news, children can use the facts as a jumping off point, writing fictionalized stories behind the real story. For another example, Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson is a tall tale based on the real-life trek of one family across the Oregon Trail. I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino is another saucy personal (and reptilian) narrative taking us back to the days of Napoleon.

For a vicarious trip to Niagara Falls, including pictures, history, and even live footage, check out some of these websites:

www.infoniagara.com (Contains a slideshow for both the American and Canadian Falls.)
www.niagarafallslive.com (Has a webcam of the Falls. You need RealPlayer on your computer, which you can download from the site.)
www.niagaraparks.com (Includes historical and scientific information.)
www.niagarafrontier.com/devil_frame.html (Includes pictures and bios of all the daredevils who went over the Falls and either survived or didn't.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls (Contains history and links.)


THEMES: DAREDEVILS. HISTORICAL FICTION. HUMOROUS FICTION. NIAGARA FALLS (N.Y.) PERSONAL NARRATIVES. PICTURE BOOKS FOR ALL AGES. REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. TURTLES. WATERFALLS.