Bibliography

Pinkney, Jerry. 2013. The Tortoise and the Hare. New York:
Little, Brown and Company.  ISBN  0316183563  

2.       Plot Summary

This classic Aesop fable is expertly depicted by Jerry Pinkney in a centralized, rhythmic celebration of the moral:  “Slow and steady wins the race.”  These words, as well as the introductory, “On your marks, get set…Go!” are the only words (repeated in sequence) to appear in this imaginative version of the tale.  The tortoise and the hare embark on their famous race, as expected and anticipated, and the delightful characters venture toward the finish line.  The rabbit takes the lead but quickly becomes distracted by a tasty lettuce garden and, upon eating his fill, proceeds to take a nap!  The tortoise presses steadily on, undaunted by a significant tumble, and he soon passes by the sleeping hare.  The hare soon awakens and attempts to catch up to the tortoise, but, cheered on by the desert animal crowd, the tortoise crosses the finish line first, and he barely wins the race.  Delightfully, the hare chooses to display good sportsmanship and wraps the black and white checkered finishing flag around the neck of the victorious tortoise because, and Pinkney states in the Artist’s Note, “Competitors can also be teammates and friends.”

3.       Critical Analysis

Exceptionally unique is the style of Pinkney’s creation of rhythm in the retelling of this fable.  As he discusses in the Artist’s Note, he designed the text to signify the experience of, “starting over, again and again, building momentum toward the finish line.”  The triumphant, alive illustration of the conclusion of the race is accompanied by the complete textual statement of the fable’s moral, “Slow and steady wins the race!”  Throughout this subtly masterful retelling, Pinkney uses watercolor techniques that mesmerizingly achieve the illusion of movement among the animals—journeying, accompanying, cheering, pressing on.  At the beginning of the tale, the reader observes the wily fox wink as he excitedly commands, “Get set…,” and the reader may observe the unstriking rattlesnake perched at the starting line:  there will be danger on this journey, and there will be unexpected outcomes, Pinkney superbly foreshadows.  The reader’s eyes are summoned by the brush strokes and the pencil marks until one is certain that the figures on the pages are quite enchanted.  Assuredly, even the illustration of the sleeping hare appears to be breathing steadily!  Pinkney’s use of desert flower colors for the animals’ clothing, as communicated in the Artist’s Notes, connects with the text to create a setting replete with resilience and grit.  There is not a hint of ostentatiousness, nor of plenty in the tale’s telling.  Yet, the animals depicted, page after page, possess a spirit and an aliveness undaunted by circumstance or want.  The front endpapers feature a map of the race, and the back endpapers feature the discussed Artist’s Note; both of these inclusions enrich and personalize the book for the reader by demonstrating and explaining the careful planning of the creator of this retelling.  From the companion frog riding on the tortoise’s back to the tiny mice giving one another high fives as the tortoise wins, the reader is continually transported to a delightful desert story world in this retelling and is invited to remember that, “Slow and steady [indeed] wins the race!”

4.       Review Excerpt(s)

From Booklist:  “The tortoise may have won the race, but the real winner here is the listening and viewing audience.”

From Kirkus Reviews:  “Bejeweled with blooming cactuses and buzzing with bees, reptiles, mammals and more, the desert tableaux will engross readers.”

5.       Connections

A study of animal symbolism that focuses on the cross-cultural symbolic significance of the hare and the tortoise, as well as the fox, the snake, the frog, and so on, could greatly enrich the teaching of this resource.

An author study could be utilized to expose students to the work of Jerry Pinkney as well as many Aesop tales by featuring Pinkney’s The Lion and the Mouse (ISBN 0316013560), or his collection, Aesop’s Fables (ISBN 1587170000).

A general expanded series on Aesop’s fables is always a welcome choice and an important component for all young children in their educational journey.  The fables chosen could be accompanied with the film versions for additional material for analysis and discussion.