Review by Booklist Review
On a summer day, the woodland animals gather for a picnic in the meadow. When Tortoise challenges Hare to a race, the others laugh, but Hare accepts. He sets off confidently and soon has a comfortable lead. Hare stops to eat, drink, chat with a friend, and take a nap. Meanwhile, Tortoise trudges along, slowly but surely. After the race ends, Hare states the fable's moral when he graciously concedes. The wave of fractured traditional tales over the past 25 years has yielded plenty of send-ups of this classic story, while few picture books have attempted to tell it straight. The fable itself is quite brief, and although Watts embroiders a bit in the text, it's graceful embroidery that respects the fabric of the story it enhances. The illustrations, detailed ink drawings with delicate watercolor washes, offer charming close-up views of the animals' activities as well as broad views of inviting rural landscapes. This picture book offers a childlike vision of the tale and a pleasant experience for reading aloud.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Watts's elaborate detail draws out the familiar story into a full-fledged picture book with few changes to the basic tale. After picnicking under a tree in a meadow, the animals "enjoyed games and races," prompting Tortoise to challenge Hare to a circular running race beginning and ending at the picnic tree. Hare takes the lead, stopping at a cottage garden to stuff himself with some tasty vegetables and fallen apples, followed up with a long drink at a nearby stream, a conversation with his friend Mr. Fox, and a rest under a sweet-smelling honeysuckle hedge. When Hare awakens to the sound of cheering animals, he races across the meadow to find that Tortoise has already won. Leaving just enough white space to soothe the eyes, Watts has filled much of each page with finely detailed meadow grasses, bushes, trees, and wildflowers and an assortment of dear, tiny animals, birds, and insects and their homes for children to find and treasure. The story begins with a morning scene featuring a beaming yellow sun and ends with a slumbering slice of the moon in a starry nighttime sky. Picnic scenes show cakes, cupcakes, and a tea set; squirrel and mole playing tennis; hedgehog reading a picture book to little hedgehog, rabbit, and bird. Tiny clothes dry on a clothesline, and mouse holds a parasol to avoid the sun's rays. VERDICT A pleasant retelling, best shared one-on-one.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Using the traditional tale but embellishing it to create a whole day's worth of activity, Watts pictures a community of animals going for a picnic on the edge of a farm village. Each stage of the race features different landscapes, with detailed watercolors in lush pastel colors. This is a version that can be explored again and again as new stories are discovered in the pictures. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
