The Tortoise and the Hare (Reading Rainbow Book)

Characters: Hare and the Tortoise

Setting: It takes place in the forest or race track

Theme: Sometimes taking time in what you do will work out best.

Genre: fable

Summary: This book tells the classic story of the hare and the tortoise. It starts off with the hare telling the tortoise that everything that he does it takes too long. In the story, it takes the different situations of what the tortoise is doing. They then challenge each other in a race. The hare surpasses the tortoise by a mile but the tortoise takes his time but still races hard. In the end, the hare loses the race because it takes things at a rush and ends up taking a nap.

Audience: Children who learn about how important it is to get things done properly instead of rushing through things.

Curriculum ties: Ties to early development, learning about time management.

Personal response: I remember my teachers always telling me this story because I always rush through the work that I work on . Reading this story makes me think about how I should rethink about the way I complete things. In addition, I tend to complete things quickly and end up doing things again because I do it too quickly. Sometimes it takes a little reminder to set you back on track. This story does a great job at it. It gives different situations where the tortoise takes his time and the hare would harass him. In the end, it does help to complete things more thoroughly. That way, you make sure that you do it right instead of doing it again. That is where the extra work lies. ( )

Perseverance and hard-work can beat out lazy, natural talent in the end - The tortoise and the hare decide to race and the hare doesn't see the tortoise as much competition. The hare is so confident in his own abilities that he doesn't take the race seriously. The tortoise on the other hand, continuously works hard to get to the end even though he is much slower. This fable has a wonderful moral and keeps the reader engaged. Appropriate for grades 1-3.

Summary:
The hare believes he can beat the tortoise in a race because he runs so much faster. Along the way he takes many stops because he believes the tortoise will never catch up to him. On his last stop he falls asleep, and the tortoise catches up and wins the race.

Personal reaction:
I can remember learning the lesson of slow and steady whens the race as a kid, and it has stuck with me ever since. I love this story, it is one that never gets old.

Classroom extension ideas:
1) The book can be used to teach children that slow isn't always bad, slow and steady will always win.
2) It could be used in a part of series to teach children about ancient Greece.
3) The students could set up a race outside, break up into two teams, one be the hares, the other the rabbits and run the race just like the story.

Summary:
Hare makes fun of Tortoise because Tortoise is so slow. They decide to race against each other. At the beginning of the race, Hare zooms off, leaving Tortoise way behind. Hare decides to take a nap because he is so far ahead. Hare does not wake up for a long time, and when he finally does, Tortoise is too close to the finish line for him to catch up.

Personal Experience:
I loved this book. The pictures were cute, and the story is a classic.

Classroom Extension:
This story could be read to teach children to take your time. If you get ahead of yourself, you're likely to fail. For example, if you were teaching math and some of the children worked ahead and got their problems done faster than the rest of the children, the ones that spent more time working the problem will more likely get the answer correct. It could also be used as a lesson to say "don't count your chickens before they hatch". Hare thought he had the race in the bag, but he decided to take a nap because he was so confident that he was going to win. This resulted in his loss of the race. ( )

Tortoise and the Hare is a age old tail. I think it is a great way to show children that hard work and determination pays off, no matter who or what you're up against. Great illustrations and moral to the book.