How Gimble Gopher Tortoise Found a New Home

No one likes to be uprooted! Especially if you like where you are and your family has lived there for generations. And doubly so if you happen to be an imperiled animal like the gopher tortoise with limited places to go! 

This delightful tale of Gimble’s search mirrors the real-life displacement story of gopher tortoises in the southeastern United States. Ousted from his burrow by construction sprawl, Gimble joins several other similarly desperate animals to seek refuge elsewhere.  This story is of a journey inspired by hope.

With the exception of Cotton (an eastern cottontail), these travelers are state or federally classified as “threatened” or “species of special concern”:  burrowing owl; gopher frog; Florida mouse; indigo snake---and Gimble Gopher Tortoise himself.  In their exodus, the friends try to find “A place saved by kind people for animals like us.”  Although Burr Owl is skeptical that humans would ever help them, the six vow to protect each other on their trek north.

Today the greatest threat to gopher tortoise survival is habitat destruction.  Gophers cannot live without undeveloped land with plenty of food and room to dig their burrows. 

The main informational goals of this story are to help young readers understand the need for habitat conservation and for our compassionate coexistence with wild creatures.  Other interwoven themes include friendship, caring for one another, and the importance of home.

Foreword-writers for the book are Jennifer Hobgood, Ph.D., Florida State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, and field biologists Ray and Pat Ashton of the Ashton Biodiversity Research & Preservation Institute.

The illustrations are soft and whimsical and depict many real-life Florida plants and backdrops. This author-illustrator collaboration is vaguely reminiscent of the Thornton Burgess/Harrison Cady wildlife “morality tales” of yore, couched in adventure and humor to lure young readers to identify with (and long to see rectified) their characters’ plight, but without being too heavy-handed with the message.

This is a great read for parents with their children, teachers in the classroom, or for a young bookworm tucked alone in his private sanctum. It also makes for a potential fundraising tool for non-profit conservation organizations. A Teacher’s Guide with interactive activities for students, preschool through middle school, is available.

About the Author and Illustrator

Author, Kay Thorpe Bannon, Ed.D., professor emeritus, Gordon College, Wenham, MA., met the gopher tortoise in her Venice, Florida yard. Finding the ancient reptile's burrow near her driveway and learning of its habitat loss, the story was in the making. Artist Rebecca Eagan, commissioned portrait and landscape artist with national and international awards, third generation Floridian and avid gopher tortoise advocate joined the team, and the two set off on a journey not too unlike Gimble's own!

Get the book today!

Experience the wonder of these indigenous upland creatures and their message of habitat conservation. This book is a high quality, 38 page, full color, soft back, perfect bound, offset print publication rich in both literary message and visual appeal. It will stand the test of time as ecology issues are sure to be with us for generations. 

We are sure you and your family will enjoy this wonderful book. 

Simply choose your preferred method of purchase below and we will ship your book as soon as we process your order.

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Option #3  - For the Teacher's Guide ($5.95) and for orders potentially eligible for bulk discounts, email us here

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