Color the Shell
A coloring book of 26 real turtles. One true fact each. 34 pages, 8.5 × 8.5 in. Written and illustrated by. Lee & Amanda Eisenbarth. Eight One Publishing.
Made for our son, who never asked for a turtle and gets one every Tuesday anyway.
Out Tuesday, October 27 · $9.99 paperback on Amazon
Email me the morning it’s out. Launch-day email, plus a turtle every Tuesday. Unsubscribe anytime.
( The book ). 34 pages, 8.5 × 8.5 in.
Every one of them has a page on this site.
Every page in the book is one real turtle: its name, one true fact, the drawing, and a small challenge, like drawing another box turtle hiding in its shell. These four are straight from the file.
TT-03 · Eastern box turtle. A box turtle can close its shell like a little box to stay safe from predators. Turtle challenge: Draw another box turtle hiding in its shell.
TT-09 · Russian tortoise. Before humans made it to the moon, two Russian tortoises flew around it in 1968! Three months later, astronauts on Apollo 8 took the same route. Turtle challenge: Choose your favorite color to trace the path the tortoises took in their spacecraft.
TT-14 · Galápagos giant tortoise. These giant tortoises can live for more than 100 years. They also can have different shaped shells depending on if they eat plants up high or grass down low. Another fun fact: These domed shaped shells tell me these tortoises eat grass, be sure to draw plenty for them to munch on!
TT-23 · Leopard tortoise. The leopard tortoise has a light shell with dark spots. Turtle challenge: These herbivores love to eat grass. Draw some extra green snacks nearby!
Download the two free pages (PDF). No email needed. One simple turtle for small hands, one with more to it for big kids. The square pages sit on Letter paper with a margin, so nothing gets cut off.
Its real name and one true fact on every page, ready to be repeated at dinner. Several times. The rest of its story is on this site.
Drawn one a week since March 2026. The originals stay free on this site. This is the coloring version.
Brian White, Danni Kane, and Henry, who was two, with a handprint.
Painted turtle, By Brian White. Handprint, age two, By Henry. Radiated tortoise, By Danni Kane.
Every Tuesday since March 2026, Lee has drawn a turtle for Henry. A real species each week, with its real story. By turtle twelve, Lee was reading about shell shapes at eleven at night. This book is the first 26 of them, made for Henry and for anyone who swears they’re too old for coloring books.
Lee and Amanda drew the line art from the originals, so the shapes stay true and the lines stay clean. Each turtle keeps its name and one fact from its page on this site. Three of the turtles are by guests, and their names are on their pages. At the back: how to be a turtle friend, a turtle fact search, and design your own turtle. The color is yours.
Color the Shell. 26 real turtles. Out Tuesday, October 27. $9.99 on Amazon. turtletuesday.club/book.
Turtle fans of all ages. The simpler turtles suit small hands, from about 5 up, or younger with help. The detailed ones give an 11-year-old something to work at. Grown-ups who sit down to help usually end up with a page of their own.
8.5 × 8.5 inches, 34 pages, a square paperback.
Black line art on white, one turtle per page, with its real name, one true fact and a turtle challenge to draw. Crayons and colored pencils are the safe choice. If you use markers, slip a sheet behind the page, or the kitchen table gets colored too.
Amazon prints each copy when you order it and ships it like anything else you buy there.
Same 26 turtles, same drawings underneath. The book pages are line-art versions made for coloring. The full-color originals stay free on each species page under CC BY.
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Email me the morning it’s out. Launch-day email, plus a turtle every Tuesday. Unsubscribe anytime.
Published by Eight One Publishing. Art by Lee and Amanda Eisenbarth, CC BY 4.0.
Turtle Tuesday Club · 2026
Turtle Tuesday Club is a free weekly turtle art project created by artist Lee Eisenbarth, who draws a new turtle every Tuesday for his son Henry. The project began on March 4, 2026 and runs as a 53-week series spanning sea turtles, freshwater turtles, and tortoises from around the world. 32 editions have been published so far. Every illustration is free to download under Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0).