What do you think?
Rate this book
The Race of Toad and Deer
In this second book by the Latina pair, Pat Mora has created a poetic adaptation of the Maya version of the much-loved fable of the tortoise and the hare. The arrogant deer who boasts of his strength and speed is finally challenged to a race by the wily toad. While all the wondrous animals of the jungle - jaguar, tapir, armadillo and toucan - gathered around to watch, the toad makes a plan. He may not be as large as Venado, but he is very clever and has many friends to help him.
In the end, Sapo defeats the deer, proving the value of brain over brawn. This version of the story was passed down by Don Fernado Tesucun, a Maya-Itzaj man who worked on the excavations of the ruins of Tikal.
The rich and beautiful collaboration between Pat Mora and Domi perfectly exemplifies the value of artisits' retelling of stories from their own cultures.
In the end, Sapo defeats the deer, proving the value of brain over brawn. This version of the story was passed down by Don Fernado Tesucun, a Maya-Itzaj man who worked on the excavations of the ruins of Tikal.
The rich and beautiful collaboration between Pat Mora and Domi perfectly exemplifies the value of artisits' retelling of stories from their own cultures.
- GenresPicture BooksFolk Tales
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Pat Mora
86 books97 followersPat Mora (born 1942) is a female Mexican-American author and poet. Pat Mora was born in El Paso, Texas. She is married and has 3 grown children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 25, 2018
A Guatemalan folktale that the author heard from a worker while doing archeological work on Tikal. Unfortunately it is badly told and probably inaccurately told. A deer who is big races a frog who with friends’ help, is able to win the race. While there is some idea that people working together can defeat the one, it also indicates cheating and tricking is a great way to win.
October 4, 2022
A brightly colored picture book about two animals racing. elementary and up
March 12, 2013
This is a book that is about a frog and a deer. It is a wonderful spin off of the tortois and the hare but with a different twist to it. The vibrant colors in this book are a water color wonderworld.
If you can read Spanish, then this is a fun book to read. The trickery of the frog (sapo Much) was genius. After seeing the kind of animal the deer (Keej)was you would have a sense of, "That's what you get." There is a good moral in the story. It's good for starting a discussion of how we talk to one another and how when friends work together, they can accomplish the almost impossible. Read it or have it read to you and translated. I gave this book 4 starts because even though the illustrations were wonderful I found it difficult to find sapo Much throughout the story. He didn't look exactly how a child would picture a frog.
The fable "The Tortois and the Hare" is a wonderful story to share in your classroom, but this story has that nice little spin to it. This would be a good book to have the children write about how they may have had to over come some kind of obsticle with the help of a friend or another person. Implementing team work for a class project would be good if you were able to read this book to your class before hand. Granted the story is in Spanish so I mainly would use it in a ELL class or a class whose population is more than 85% Hispanic.
I do not have a Grade,Lexile,or Guided Reading level as this book is in Spanish.
If you can read Spanish, then this is a fun book to read. The trickery of the frog (sapo Much) was genius. After seeing the kind of animal the deer (Keej)was you would have a sense of, "That's what you get." There is a good moral in the story. It's good for starting a discussion of how we talk to one another and how when friends work together, they can accomplish the almost impossible. Read it or have it read to you and translated. I gave this book 4 starts because even though the illustrations were wonderful I found it difficult to find sapo Much throughout the story. He didn't look exactly how a child would picture a frog.
The fable "The Tortois and the Hare" is a wonderful story to share in your classroom, but this story has that nice little spin to it. This would be a good book to have the children write about how they may have had to over come some kind of obsticle with the help of a friend or another person. Implementing team work for a class project would be good if you were able to read this book to your class before hand. Granted the story is in Spanish so I mainly would use it in a ELL class or a class whose population is more than 85% Hispanic.
I do not have a Grade,Lexile,or Guided Reading level as this book is in Spanish.
July 4, 2013
What an excellent retelling of the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare"! The use of Spanish is perfectly interwoven in the text, adding to the building excitement as the story moves forward. I'll definitely use it for storytime!
December 10, 2012
The illustrations are colorful and the story was pretty good. The ending was kind of quick. I was expecting a lesson learned for the Deer but the book just ended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews