“Peaceful and pensive” Truman, a tortoise, is also keenly observant. He notices Sarah’s new sweater, big backpack, and her delivery of two extra green beans to his food dish. From the window Truman watches Sarah, who is white, board the number 11 bus and after waiting for “a thousand hours—tortoise hours, that is”—he decides to go after her. The trek from his aquarium across the apartment is a daylong herculean effort, and Sarah returns just as he’s about to squeeze under the door. When she reads her handmade booklet aloud for his bedtime story, Truman learns that he’ll accompany her out the door sometime soon when Sarah takes him for show-and-tell at her new school. An exceptional text and illustrations that extend the humorous and heartfelt narrative successfully combine themes of starting school, adventure, and friendship. Honor Book, 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3–7)