Aldabra, or, The tortoise who loved Shakespeare

Elisa visits her grandmother often, but Elisa's mother never comes along to see her own mother, and that strikes Elisa as odd. Finally Nonna tells Elisa that the root of the problem is that Elisa's mother felt obligated to commit Nonna to a mental institution many years earlier, and that has caused a rupture in their relationship.

Now Nonna is changing into a huge land tortoise. How should Elisa react?

This is the very very odd story of a grandmother who loves to recite Shakespeare with her granddaughter, but who also transforms into a tortoise.

I wonder if things were lost in translation with this story.

It's a 1001 Children's Book, but it is not one of my favorites.