The Tortoise & the Hare

by Jerry Pinkney (Author)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Illustrations and minimal text relate the familiar fable of the race between a slow tortoise and a quick but foolish hare.

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.

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ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
[There is] a note of homespun vibrancy to Pinkney's elegant watercolor paintings....The tortoise may have won the race, but the real winner here is the listening and viewing audience.

Kirkus

Starred Review

A captivating winner--start to finish! 

None

The richly detailed pictures are lively and humorous, but what makes this retelling particularly ingenious is Pinkney's use of the "slow-and-steady" moral in a cumulative progression, both to recount the action and provide dramatic tension.

None


Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Caldecott winner Pinkney's magnificently illustrated version of this famous fable gives the race the excitement of an Olympic event. On the title page, the hare challenges the tortoise and gives his neckerchief to the fox referee to use for a flag. The setting is the Southwestern desert, and the animal spectators range from bobcat and vulture to field mouse and frog. The hare leaps forth as if shot from a cannon; the tortoise, grim-faced in an engineer's cap and bandanna, plods forward. Iterative text, delivered word by word at tortoise speed, bolsters the story's lesson. "Slow and steady," reads the spread that shows the tortoise making his way through a pond that the hare cleared with one leap. "Slow and steady wins," shows the tortoise lumbering past the snoring hare. "Slow and steady wins the," sees the hare struggling to catch up as the tortoise strides across the finish line. Pinkney's portraits are so lifelike that the animals appear to breathe, and they present a peaceable kingdom in which predators and prey live in harmony. Ages 3-6. Agent: Sheldon Fogelman, Sheldon Fogelman Agency. (Oct.)

Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

PreS-Gr 3—Following up on his superb rendition of The Lion & the Mouse (Little, Brown, 2009), Pinkney has created yet another stunning interpretation of a classic tale in this virtually wordless picture book. Endpapers establish the desert setting with a map of the course through the cacti and rocky region of the American Southwest. Tortoise and Hare, each sporting a bandana, are joined by their animal friends at the starting line for the famous race. Fox in his broad-brimmed hat gives them their marks, gets them set, and off they go as Hare bounds away, leaving Tortoise behind in a trail of dust. Pinkney uses watercolor, colored pencil, and pastel paintings to create vibrant characters that are in colorful contrast to the tans and natural browns of the desert. Long horizontal lines and Hare leaping off the page propel the story-and the race-ever forward. The limited text, used sparingly but extremely effectively, reinforces the theme of the story-that the journey is as important as the ultimate goal-and builds one word at a time: "slow," "slow and," "slow and steady" until finally the race is won to the cheers and high-fives of the supportive spectators. Pinkney takes care to show Tortoise overcoming challenges and Hare demonstrating good sportsmanship and healthy competition. An artist's note explains the creative process and motivation for retelling the well-known tale. This spectacular success is certain to become a classic in its own right.—Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney is one of the most heralded children's book illustrators of all time. He has the rare distinction of being the recipient of five Caldecott Honors and the winner of the 2010 Caldecott medal for The Lion and the Mouse. He has published numerous reimagined classic tales, including The Little Mermaid, The Tortoise & the Hare, The Grasshopper & the Ants, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award five times, the Coretta Scott King Honor four times, and has been nominated for the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award. He was also the first children's book illustrator elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives with his wife, author Gloria Jean Pinkney, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. The artist invites you to visit his website at jerrypinkneystudio.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316183567
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
October 01, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV029000 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | General
JUV022000 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, & Fables | General
JUV002000 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | General
Library of Congress categories
Fables
Folklore
Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up)
Gold Medal Winner 2013 - 2013
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2014 - 2014

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