The Tortoise and the Hare

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.