can anyone tell me a bit about small turtles and whether they are harm full to small children?

All reptiles can carry a small amount of salmonella. As long as you wash his hands after touching a turtle, he will be fine. But, turtles can also scratch and bite, they may not make a good pet for such a young child.

Some stores sell small turtles, what they don't tell you is that these turtles will grow up to be very large. Be prepared to invest in a large habitat, and heat and light sources.

Here are some care sheets for two of the most commonly sold pet turtles:

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/aquaticturtles/tp/r...

http://www.russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm

My aunt solved this problem by setting a Purell dispenser next to the turtle tank. If you touched a turtle you had to use the purell afterwards. It seemed to work pretty well.

http://www.petturtle.com/

http://www.ehow.com/articles_4912-pet-turtles.html

http://petturtle.htmlplanet.com/index.html