The Tortoise and the Hare

by Jerry Pinkney

This companion to the Caldecott Medal-winning The Lion & the Mouse is Jerry Pinkney's most stunning masterpiece yet. Even the slowest tortoise can defeat the quickest hare, and even the proudest hare can learn a timeless lesson from the most humble tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race! Here is a superbly rendered journey from starting line to finish that embodies the bravery, perseverance, and humility we can all find inside ourselves.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fables, Folklore, Fiction, Classics

Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Jerry Pinkney was an American illustrator and writer of children's literature. Pinkney illustrated more than 100 books, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. Pinkney's works addressed diverse themes and were usually done in watercolors. He was the recipient of five Caldecott Honor books and the winner of the Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse. He also won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, the Coretta Scott King Honor four times, and was nominated for the prestigious international Hans Christian Anderson Award.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aesop’s famous story comes to life with these electric illustrations. Many know the story of the cocky hare who races ahead and presumes that he can beat the slow tortoise. By the end, the dedication of the tortoise trumps anything that the hare might feel he can do to ensure victory. As I said, the illustrations in this book stole the show and Neo was so captivated by them that he could not stop pointing things out for me to see. Short on words but very detailed in its artistry. Perfect for the young reader who can concoct a story based on the images.

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Pinkney's drawings are distinctive. I recognized them immediately and knew he was the same illustrator as the one who did the beautiful drawings for Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo which my grandson loves. Pinkney's animals are so vivid, colorful, real and large; they usually take up the entire page, leaving little room for text. But when you see these creatures, you don't feel any need for words as each picture really is worth 1000 words.

There was no text or the bare minimum on each page relating this well-beloved Aesop fable, but it could just as easily be determined by picture alone.

Slow and steady wins the race! Go tortoises!

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This companion book to Pinkney’s Caldecott Medal winning The Lion & the Mouse is another outstanding book. Set in the deserts of the Southwest, the story has all sorts of animals gathered to watch the race, including badgers, lynx, mice, and vultures. All of them wear at least one piece of clothing, from hats to bandanas to pants. As the pages of the book turn, readers will get to see how each of the animals approaches the race, from the frenzy and then sloth of the hare to the steadiness of the tortoise. Readers will get a sense of the slowness also from the words on the page that every so tantalizingly make out phrases as the pages turn.

Told in few words, the book is all about the illustrations which are magnificent. Filled with tiny details to linger over, each illustration is beautifully composed and helps move the story forward. Pinkney stays true to the classic tale, not changing any of the storyline. He manages to take stories that can become overly wordy and with images alone tell their story and make them appropriate and thrilling for a young audience. I will always see his illustrations when I hear this story. That is talent!

Quite simply, this is another masterpiece by Pinkney. A must-have book for every library serving preschoolers. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sumptuous graphite, watercolor, colored pencils, gouache and pastel illustrations tell the familiar story of a race between a tortoise and a hare. The tortoise moves slowly but steadily to the finished line despite the surety that the rabbit is far ahead of him. But as young readers familiar with the story know, that rabbit is easily distracted and ends up munching on some garden veggies and taking a snooze while the tortoise just keeps trundling toward his goal. I love the story, the message, and the setting in the desert Southwest as well as all the animals who accompany the competitors. Since the book contains only a handful of words that are repeated to insure readers understand the book's theme, readers have time to savor the delights of those illustrations, filled as they are with the delicate hues of the desert. All of the animals in the book's images seem to have unique personalities, captured as they are by the Pinkney in this visual masterpiece.

[CanadianReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunningly beautiful book. I can appreciate the art, but I do lament that there weren't more words to accompany the visuals. I found that Pinkney's afterword provided insights into why he told the story as he did. His discussion of his fresh new take on the Hare was particularly interesting.

The intricate detail of the illustrations makes this a book that is better read with one child at a time than with an entire class--unless you have access to a document projector.

[Julie Hetu]

Title: The Tortoise and the Hare
Author: Jerry Pinkney
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): race, tortoise, hare
Opening line/sentence:
“once upon a time, there was a tortoise and a hare.”
Brief Book Summary: In this version of the tortoise and the hare, these two animals are faced with a challenge of winning the race. As usualy, the hare is super confident, while the tortoise is thorough and laid back. At the end, the tortoise wins the race as is well known, “slow and steady wins the race.”
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Thom Barthelmess (Booklist, Aug. 1, 2013 (Vol. 109, No. 22) ) 
Starred Review* After his Caldecott triumph with The Lion & the Mouse (2009), Pinkney returns to Aesop for inspiration, this time setting the familiar story in the American Southwest. The endpapers indicate the race route around a cacti-laden barnyard, and the title page shows our titular competitors setting the challenge, before taking off, cheered on by a group of avid animal spectators. The fable plays out as expected, and Pinkney alternates the action between the tortoise s diligence and the hare s overconfidence. To mark the tortoise s progress, Pinkney unveils the moral of the story cumulatively, beginning with just the word slow and adding another word to the phrase at each milestone, until, at contest s end, the entire phrase slow and steady wins the race celebrates the tortoise s victory. The tortoise sports an engineer s cap and kerchief; the hare, a checkered vest; and most of the other animals, a variety of town and country clothing, adding a note of homespun vibrancy to Pinkney s elegant watercolor paintings. Adjacent to an informative artist s note, we see the hare tying a checkered flag about the tortoise s neck, and the final endpapers depict a victory party. The tortoise may have won the race, but the real winner here is the listening and viewing audience. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Pinkney took home the Caldecott Medal for The Lion & the Mouse, so expect lots of buzz about this companion picture book. 
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature ) 
Pinkney s retelling of the classic fable of the tortoise and the hare is almost textless. After the racers are told, On your marks, get set go! by the presiding fox, the moral appears a word at a time throughout the visual tale: Slow and steady wins the race. Pinkney finds the rocks and vegetation of the American Southwest a fitting setting for the sport. His pages, illustrated with graphite, watercolor, colored pencils, gouache, and pastel, are filled with action beginning with the front end pages, where the path of the famous race is traced. Crowds of naturalistic but anthropomorphic spectators obviously are enjoying themselves. The portrayal of the two stars in this drama is particularly expressive; their personalities are clearly defined. The final celebration explodes across the back end pages. Pinkney s notes about the relation between the fable and his life and his inspiration add to our appreciation of his art. Don t miss the contrast between the cover and jacket.
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
As stated in these two reviews, this book is almost textless, but instead refers to the great watercolor paints that show the different animals. I think that having these illustrations add to the book and make a more enjoyable experience for the readers just as the reviews state.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
Even though this plot is rather simple, it is a well known plot. Having the illustrations and almost no words add to the book in a way that is not always done well. However, this author and illustrator do a great job of making these illustrations stand out and provide depth for the story.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
With this book, students could use a graphic organizer in order to record the main events throughout the story. By doing this, students will be able to learn how to set up a graphic organizer and then will be able to do it for a story of their own in the future.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mentioned as a possibility for a Caldecott award on one of the Mock Newbery threads I found, the illustrations in this book are...incredible...fantastic..marvelous and lovely beyond words.

Few in words, lush in illustrations, this is the ageless story of the turtle who keeps a slow, steady pace, and a rabbit who races and is easily distracted at times.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gorgeous book from Jerry Pinkney. He's a master illustrator, that's all there is to it. Anything he does is worth getting. It's as simple as that.

[♥♣Mary♦♠ If She So Pleases · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beginning reader's book. There are only a couple of words. The book consists mostly of illustrations.

[Brendan B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Name: Brendan Bast

“The Tortoise and The Hare”



Have you ever got overconfident? Thought that you're great at something and in the end didn’t achieve your goal or whatever you were doing? Well, in the crazy fable, “The Tortoise And The Hare” by Jan Fields the text teaches to keep persevering and going slow rather than fast. The Hare was overconfident and the result was he lost the race. The characters learned to not rush it and take your time. Also the Tortoise and the Hare learn that it takes perseverance and a good mindset to win, and of course the text teaches that slow and steady wins the race.
The text teaches that you should keep persevering and going slow and taking your time rather than going fast and rushing it. The Tortoise shows this by running even though he was far behind. He never gave up because he wanted to prove that even the slowest can have more effort than the fastest. The Tortoise also wanted to prove the Hare wrong because he was overconfident. Finally the Tortoise took his time and preserved; the outcome was in his favor while the Hare got overconfident. The Hare shows this by taking a nap and getting breakfast. And he learned to never give up because he gave up and rested rather than winning then doing both of those things. So then the Hare learned that “even the fastest may not win without effort.” The goal for the author is to support the theme that slow and steady wins the race because this shows that you have to have effort and take your time so that you can “win the race.” The technique that matches the goal is a description, that’s a technique that the author uses because it had no pictures so Jan Fields had to describe how the Hare got breakfast and took a nap and how the Tortoise persevered.
The text also teaches that you should keep persevering and going slow and taking your time rather than going fast and rushing it. The second reason is you need to have a good mindset, and not being overconfident. One example is the Hare because he took a nap while racing, he also got breakfast! So he was obviously too overconfident because he basically said “that Tortoise was too slow to race and he never had a chance, so I'm going to take a rest and win later”. But on the other hand the Tortoise had a great mindset because he wasn’t afraid to race the Hare and he knew that the Hare would be overconfident because that was his character. So all the Tortoise had to do was run the race and he knew that it would take all day, but would win because. So the Tortice had the better mindset and even a better plan because A: wasn’t afraid of taking on the Hare, and B: because he wasn’t overconfident like the Hare. So, it is ok to have a confident mindset like saying “I can do this if I try hard enough” but you don’t want the over or under confident mindset. And that is why everyone should have a good mindset.
The text finally teaches that you should keep persevering and going slow and taking your time rather than going fast and rushing it. The final reason is slow and steady wins the race. The text shows this by the Tortoise taking his time and persevering and eventually won the race because of hard work. Also the Hare shows this by running and stopping during the race and lost the race. And finally, “even the best may not win without effort” which makes an understanding that if you take a break and not put any effort you're going to lose but if you put in time and effort your outcome will be great. The author also uses the goal of showing the character’s motivation Jan Fields uses this goal for the Tortoise because he wants to prove to the Hare that even the slowest can win with only effort. The Technique that matches with the goal is inner thinking, because the Tortoise needed inner thinking and effort to win the race.
In conclusion, the reasons why the text teaches that you should keep persevering and going slow and taking your time rather than going fast and rushing it are... The Tortoise and the Hare learned that it takes perseverance and a good mindset to win, and finally slow and steady wins the race. What I've taken away from this story is that you should never give up and keep persevering and just because if you're behind you should “keep going” so that you can “win the race” meaning that if you don’t give up you will achieve your goal or in the fable “win the race.” This is why you should never be overconfident and take time to achieve your goals. Also believe in yourself because everyone in their life will struggle at a point in their life you just have to believe in yourself and get past it.

[Ashtynn Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tortoise and the Hare

In life, you should never be overconfident. The Hare in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare did this and it did not go so well. Meanwhile the tortoise did the opposite of what the Hare did, and more, like standing up for itself, challenging the Hare that was over confident about winning a race, the Tortoise also teaches us to never give up.

The Tortoise in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare shows us that slow and steady wins the race. It shows us this by standing up for itself when the Hare was being mean. The Hare laughed at the Tortoise because of it being so slow. Also the Hare said “You’re the slowest thing I’ve ever seen.” That made the Tortoise feel bad about himself, but the Tortoise came back and said “You should not make fun of me.” He said this because he knew you should not make fun of someone or something because of the way they look or how they do something. And it also knew that everyone is going to meet their end goal, they just might get there in slightly different ways.

The Tortoise in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare shows us that slow and steady wins the race. The Tortoise shows us that by challenging the Hare that is to comfedent. The Tortoise asks the Hare if it wants to race, but the Hare couldn’t stop laughing. The Hare gets too confident during the race and says “ You’ll never catch me!” Then the Hare stops to take a nap while the Tortoise slowly walks past it taking the lead away from the Hare.

The Tortoise in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare shows us that slow and steady wins the race. The Tortoise shows us this by never giving up. The Hare runs fast and far ahead without knowing going fast will slow you down, and will make you lose energy faster than you do just walking. And the tortoise is just walking minding his own business not losing energy that quickly. When the Hare finally woke up from it’s nap he watched the Tortoise slowly make it across the finish line.

As you can see you should never be too overconfident because it will not leave you in the place you don’t want to be. I know I have learned to never be too overconfident but I have also learned that slow and steady wins the race. I know now that slow and steady wins the race, also to always stand up for myself if someone is mistreating me, to “challenge someone to a race” if someone is overconfident, and to never give up when it is hard. Always remember “Slow And Steady Wins The Race.”

[avery walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are not a lot of words in this book. There are really only like 7 words in the whole book and i was not expecting that. I was surprised to find that there were no words and would take that into consideration when picking books to read, to say, my class. It would not be one to pick for kids that are more proficient in reading and can read on their own. I do like the message though that we have to do things on our own time and speed and it ensures success. I am a big believer in self advocacy and knowing your strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to push yourself. I was wondering why the author chose not to use words and why they focused more on the illustrations. I think i would have found the book more enjoyable had there been more words, if i was a child i would not have understood what was going on.

[Kelly Grace Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

timeless tale important for all ages

[Kelsey Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow and steady wins the race. This book is a race between a tortoise and a hare. The hare is very confident that he is going to win so he decides to stop and eat and he takes a nap. While he is sleeping the tortoise passes him and he wins the race. I think this book is perfect for grades k-3. I loved reading this book!

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother

[Joella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another retelling of the Tortoise & the Hare, but done in the illustration style that only Jerry Pinkney can do. The race begins with loads of animals dressed in some items of clothes (hats, vests, bonnets, etc.) ready to watch the race between the tortoise and the hare. There aren’t many words. A fox calls out, “On your marks, get set…Go!” Of course the hare takes off and goes as fast as possible. The pictures show how the hare can go quickly over logs or water and the tortoise takes more time (illustrated by more panels) to go over the same distance. To begin with the hare looks frantic and is going all-out (as shown by the completely outstretched body). But soon hare slows down and digs a hole, eats some lettuce, and takes a nap. Tortoise still trudges on. Eventually hare wakes up and realizes that the nap wasn’t such a great idea because “slow and steady wins the race!”

This is a delightfully illustrated edition of this fable. The expressions on the animals are amazing. There is so much that is told in just an expression or the body language. They way that the smaller panels show what takes longer (from the tortoise’s movements to hare’s sleeping) are a nice visual cue as to how continual movement is more important than rushing and going off-course. And the last illustration with the hare tying the checkered flag around the tortoise’s neck hints that there are no hard feelings against each other. This is a fun retelling that is nearly wordless–just the most essential words are used. Which is great since that will allow grownups who “read” the book to youngsters to continually ask “what is happening?” Which in turn will allow kiddos the opportunity to practice their narrative skills by interpreting what they see and processing it with words into a story. Nicely done, Mr. Pinkney. Nicely done.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a child, my G-ma gave me a book of Aesop's fables. I was struggling with reading, but I could look at the pictures and make up the tales. Of course, I liked the animals but there was more to it than that. Skip ahead many years. Jerry Pinkney is a children's book illustrator out of my dreams. He has come back to these tales, which were also a vivid aspect of his childhood, over many years. His masterpiece, The Lion and the Mouse, a wordless picture book which perfectly conveyed the fable, won the Caldecott Medal in 2010. Here is the Tortoise & the Hare. Another (mostly) wordless book, Pinkney smartly set the well-known story in the American Southwest. It's good racing terrain, good tortoise and hare climate, and good to feature desert critters like badgers, lynx, snakes and vultures. All of the animals' movements, clothing and facial expressions are unique and vivid to the point of being fascinating and even good scary. In the endnotes, Pinkney explains that the moral of the tale-slow and steady wins the race- is meaningful to him because he struggled with dyslexia as a child. He notes, "Competitors can also be teammates and friends." When I read books for children and teens, I always have the target audience in mind. But with Aesop and Pinkney, it goes to the core of my own child self.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Pinkney, a Caldecott Medalist, has outdone himself again. The story is set in the American Southwest and begins at the start of the fabled race, with many other animal spectators. The animals are those found in that region, and all are wearing some kind of clothing or accessories, which adds to the whimsy of the story. The illustrations will bring to mind Uncle Remus/Brer Rabbit stories, in addition, a small nod to the artwork of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit. His artwork, using colored pencils with watercolor and gouache, are vivid and detailed. As the story progresses, you see the Hare speeding ahead until he is detoured by a lettuce patch that he is unable to resist. The tortoise on the other hand, slowly plods along, experiencing some setbacks but is willing to keep ongoing. The text is limited, but builds momentum, to the final lesson, "Slow and steady wins the race!". The last image of the two rivals is heartwarming, as you see Hare tying on the winning scarf on a proud Tortoise. There is an artist's note at the end, explaining some of the choices Jerry Pinkney made when retelling this famous story. This note is an interesting back story for the older youth or adults reading the book, while the story and pictures alone will be enough for the young children reading this tale. Truly a delightful book!

[Jay Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
Harold the Hare is a very confident animal, as he should be because he is fast but he is a little too confident about his speed. Tom the Tortoise challenges him to a race and instantly Harold thinks it's a joke because he says Tom the Tortoise is probably the slowest animal around. Tom does not back down from the challenge and he prepares for the race while Harold naps and talks with his friends. They start the race and Harold is beating Tom bad until Harold stops to talk to one of his friends and Tom passes him. Harold regains the lead very fast. Harold is in the lead again and he stops to take a nap because he thinks he is so far ahead of Tom. Tom ends up passing Harold while he is sleeping and winning the race.

Analysis:
Slow and steady wins the race and sometimes our ego gets in our way of accomplishing something that is very obtainable (beating a tortoise in a race when you are a hare). Always prepare for whatever you are doing or about to do because if you don't then that is when we get the results we don't want.

Application:
Show your students to take time with their schoolwork or any work that are doing so that they do not mess up and get a grade that they shouldn't have gotten or have to do their work over again because they were too confident and going too fast.

[Darin Nordman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney

A classic tale I have read and heard many times and is always a great story, this wordless picture book, The Tortoise and the Hare, was just as good of a read as I have experienced it in the past. But the book itself was another unique version of this classic. The illustrations were "modernized", giving that extra detail to all the animals in the book. I did catch a few words in the book, so I would not say that this was completely wordless, but it gives insight on what it means to take your time and to not be "over confident", as I would put it. On a side note, the words seemed to be more of a dialogue.

This story is always a great story, but this one in particular stands out to me with its illustrations. Going into the SPED field, I feel that this specific book is very detailed and would/could make sense to students who have problems reading or have no verbal communication. Students who are nonverbal could enjoy and sometimes even understand what this book is trying to teach, in my opinion. Overall favorite of the 3 books for this week.

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids and I love Jerry Pinkney's artwork. It's beautiful and detailed and funny.

In THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE, there's a western backdrop featuring cactuses and mesquite. Tortoise is wearing a train cap (of all things!) and coyote has got him a cap with a feather in it; while Ms. Kangaroo Mouse dons a prairie bonnet and Hare wears a very nice checkered vest.

Besides the art, what's nice about this story is that it isn't necessary for younger children to be able to read to enjoy it. After they know the story they will able able to pour over the pages and retell it to themselves.
.

BEAUTIFUL VERSION of this classic story. This would be a lovely book to share with youngsters.

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(sample pages n' more TORTOISE AND THE HARE

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Pinkney has a gift for taking fairy tales and fables to a different level. This is the companion to the Caldecott winning masterpiece THE LION AND THE MOUSE. The Tortoise and the Hare is a well known fable with a strong oral tradition. Pinkney embraces the simplest version of the text and celebrates the story with his rich, detailed illustrations. A wide variety of art materials are used to create a depth and texture to each depiction. THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE is set in the desert with a delightful cast of softly colored creatures that fill the pages as the hare and the tortoise have their epic race. A fantastic version of this classic story.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, deceptively simple retelling of the well known fable.

I love Pinkney's artist's note - how this fable was particularly meaningful to him in his youth, but how he also finds it rings truer today as the pace of life continues to speed up.

Used for a Wordless Story Time program, used a colleague's recommendation and had little hare and tortoise name tags. 11/5/14

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artist scores again with absolutely beautiful artwork.

[Crystal Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT illustrations!! Words were not needed to make this a great book. I think young children will love this story for the great pictures.

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated picture book of the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare.

[Faloni © · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤣 After awhile, you just want to be with the one who makes you laugh.
📖🐢Tortoise & the Hare by Jerry Pinkney

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Alan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Well, watch these new tricks that I learned as I analyze and review this old, very well-known book called The Tortoise and the Hare. This book has always been a WOW book to me. In this book, there was a race between a tortoise and a hare aka a turtle and a rabbit. We all know turtles are known to be very slow well that’s exactly what the hare in this book thought too and the turtle was indeed slow. READY…SET…GO, the race had begun and POW there goes the hare before the tortoise even took his first two steps. During the race, the book flips back and forth between the turtle and the rabbit. The rabbit being so far ahead decided to stop and eat at this cabbage patch and the turtle continued constantly reminding himself that slow and steady wins the race. Who knows how long it took the turtle to catch up to the hare but when he did he found the hare asleep off of a full belly of cabbage. The tortoise passed ol sleepy head and continued on the race, the hare eventually woke up and realized that he never finished the race. So he jumped up and took off as fast as he could, but in the end, he couldn’t catch the turtle and the turtle won the race, SLOW AND STEADY. This was a very simple book with great illustrations and little words, but the message behind the book was powerful. I think two major themes in this book were equality and determination/perseverance. I say equality because despite their natural differences the tortoise and the hare were both given equal chances to win the race, it was an equal opportunity for them both. I think the determination and perseverance theme speaks for itself during the book even though the tortoise knew he had a disadvantage he shows that success can be achieved with steady effort, and his will to keep going is a lesson in perseverance. The main genre of this book is fable. Throughout reading this book I learned that not everything in life is about going fast and sometimes it is more beneficial if you focus on your speed and capabilities. I also learned if you are blessed to pick up some speed don’t get too comfortable or you’ll lose. One last thing that I think a child could learn from this book is to not compare yourself to others because, at the end of the day, anything is possible if you believe in yourself. This was a WOW book for me because the message behind the book always seems to find its way back into my life when it needs to.


One literary device that I noticed that added to the quality of this book was the illustrations. The use of vivid illustrations in a children's picture book plays a crucial role in storytelling. Pinkney's vivid artwork strengthens the story by visualizing the contrast between the tortoise's determination and the hare's overconfidence. These images increase the reader's engagement and understanding of the story, and they serve to express feelings and things that words alone may not fully capture. Another example was repetition; the author used the phrase "Slow and steady" throughout the story to convey the turtles' attitude toward the race and to build on the theme of perseverance. I would consider this book anti-bias because the author illustrates anti-bias ideas through the concept of fair competition. Despite their differences and early social expectations, both have a fair chance of winning the race. Pinkney's portrayal of the natural world respects the individuality of both the tortoise and the hare, allowing readers of all ages to connect with them.

[Sophie Greenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a modernized rendition of Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare". The illustrations are captivating and detailed, perfect for young readers who rely heavily on illustrations in read alouds to follow along with the events in a book and expressions of the character. This book is most likely designed to be used as a read aloud, weather it be in a classroom setting or at home, for children in early elementary grades, or preschool, (kindergarten, 1st grade). The book describes the race that takes place between a tortoise and a hare. The hare is very boastful and overly confident in his speed, and challenges the tortoise to race him as almost a joke, certain that he will win. The tortoise hesitantly accepts the challenge and, with the help of other animal friends, prepares for the race by working out and practicing strategies. The tortoise shows up to the race feeling a bit more confident than he originally had after preparing in advance. The hare did not prepare because he believed that he would win no matter what. When the race began, the hare took many breaks during the race and decided to slack off, believing that his natural speed would still allow him to win. The hare stopped by other animals houses for snacks and took naps, but the tortoise continued slow and steady without any interruptions. The hare having too much confidence in his speed and taking breaks during the race actually caused the tortoise, who never stopped once and tried his hardest throughout the race, to win. This story teaches children that perseverance and hard work can help you achieve anything, and that it is important to work hard and not be overly confident. I highly recommend this book being used as a read aloud for early readers, because it is a literary classic and contains and important message for young children.

[Sunah Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Slow and steady wins the race” is the typical and conventional lesson of the Tortoise and the Hare folktale. This book is the traditional literature which contains the old story without twists that are common in modern folktales.

The author described that illustrations were intended to portray the American Southwest by means of the tones of dusty earth. I believe that the author successfully illustrated the vibrant movement of the characters with fewer text. Regarding the book cover, the book I checked out from the school library did not have a dust jacket, and the book cover did not have a title in the text. Instead, the tortoise and the hare are illustrated with “&” in the middle of the character. I think it was great for readers to conjecture the title with symbolic representations and already constructed knowledge about this folktale. The illustrations also imply that the Hare suggested the race to the Tortoise. On the title page, the Hare was pointing to the direction of the race. The Hare also wore a black checkered scarf which was used for the checkered racing flag at the race. After the Tortoise won the race, the Hare tied the black patterned scarf around the Tortoise’ neck. These illustrations tell that the Hare admitted the loss of the race and celebrated the Tortoise’s triumph with a good heart.