![]() First edition | |
Author | Aesop |
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Illustrator | Jerry Pinkney |
Language | English |
Genre | Children's literature, picture book, Fable |
Published | 2013 ( Little, Brown and Company) |
Publication place | USA |
Media type | Print ( hardback, paperback) |
Pages | 40 (unpaginated) |
ISBN | 9780316183567 |
OCLC | 880941023 |
The Tortoise & the Hare is a 2013 wordless picture book of Aesop's classic fable and is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. It is about a tortoise and a hare that compete in a foot race with the tortoise surprisingly winning.
School Library Journal, in a review of The Tortoise & the Hare, wrote "Pinkney has created yet another stunning interpretation of a classic tale in this virtually wordless picture book. .. Pinkney takes care to show Tortoise overcoming challenges and Hare demonstrating good sportsmanship and healthy competition." [1]
Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews all gave starred reviews. [2] [3] [4]
The Horn Book Magazine wrote "Pinkney brilliantly illustrates another well-known Aesop fable." and concluded "The richly detailed illustrations are lively and humorous, but what makes this retelling particularly ingenious is Pinkney's use of the oft-quoted moral in a cumulative progression both to recount the action and provide dramatic tension: "Slow / slow and / slow and steady / slow and steady wins / slow and steady wins the / slow and steady wins the race!"" [5]
The Tortoise & the Hare has also been reviewed by The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, [6] and Children's Book and Media Review. [7]
Caldecott winner Pinkney's magnificently illustrated version of this famous fable gives the race the excitement of an Olympic event. .. 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.
The tortoise may have won the race, but the real winner here is the listening and viewing audience.
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With luminous mixed media pictures, a short, carefully meted-out text and a Southwestern U.S. setting, Pinkney (The Lion and the Mouse, 2009) takes on another of Aesop's fables—marvelously.
While this is an oft-retold tale in picture-book land, Pinkney's version is faithful to the original while offering a lively and imaginative take on the ancient Greek version of "You snooze, you lose."
Because the progression of the story requires creative thought from the reader, it sparks growth as well as the stretching of the reader's mind.