Nancy Loewen - The Tortoise and the Hare, Narrated by the Silly But Truthful Tortoise

Editor: Jill Kalz
Designer: Lori Bye
Premedia Specialist: Kris Wilfahrt
The illustrations in this book were created digitally.

Design Element: Shutterstock, Andrey_ Kuzman
Picture Window Books
1710 Roe Crest Drive
North Mankato, MN 56003
www.mycapstone.com
Copyright 2019 by Picture Window Books, a Capstone imprint.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole
or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Loewen, Nancy, 1964 author. | Cox, Russ, illustrator.

Title: The tortoise and the hare, narrated by the silly but truthful tortoise /
by Nancy Loewen ; illustrated by Russ Cox.

Description: North Mankato, Minnesota : Picture Window Books, [ 2018] |
Series: Nonfiction picture books. The other side of the fable |
Summary: In this humorous retelling of the classic fable, the tortoise,
Balderdash, describes how his race with Jiffy the Hare ( who was actually
pretty slow for a hare) launched his career as a comedian.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018005707 ( print) | LCCN 2018006554 ( ebook) |
ISBN 9781515828754 ( eBook PDF) | ISBN 9781515828679 ( library binding) |
ISBN 9781515828716 ( paperback) |
ISBN 9781515853336 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Fables. | Turtles Juvenile fiction. | Hares Juvenile fiction.

| Racing Juvenile fiction. | Humorous stories. | CYAC: Fables. | Turtles
Fiction. | Hares Fiction. | Racing Fiction. | Humorous stories. |
LCGFT: Fables. | Humorous fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ8.2. L63 ( ebook) | LCC PZ8.2. L63 To 2018 ( print) |
DDC [ E] dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018005707

A fable is a short animal tale that teaches a lesson. It is one of
the oldest story forms. The Tortoise and the Hare is from
a collection of hundreds of fables called Fables. These
stories may have been written by Aesop, a Greek storyteller
who lived from to BC .

The moral of the story:

Slow and steady
wins the race.

A hare was teasing a tortoise for being slow.

Do you ever get to where you want to go?
the hare asked, laughing.

Yes, I do, said the tortoise. And it doesnt take
me that long. Lets run a race, and Ill prove it.

The hare thought that was very funny and agreed
to the race. The fox set the course and started the
runners off.

The hare quickly hopped out of sight. He was so
sure he would win the race that he lay down for
a nap.

The tortoise walked slowly and steadily. In time he
passed the hare, but the hare didnt wake up until
the tortoise was near the finish line. Now the
hare ran as fast as he could, but he couldnt
catch up. The tortoise won!

Hey.

Ever seen a tortoise do this?

Or this?

My name is Balderdash, by the way. Funny name, right?
The word balderdash means nonsense. Silliness. Baloney.
But Balderdash is a long name, so just call me Dash.

That little you read just now? Its all true. Those are the
facts. But it left out all the good stuff like how that race
got me started as a ! Thats right, my job these
days is to make others laugh. Pull up a stump, and Ill tell you
all about it.

Jiffy the Hare was a pain in my neck even before the race.
He bugged me like ants on applesauce.

You see, as hares go, Jiffy was pretty darn slow. He couldnt keep
up with the other hares! Thats why he was always hanging around.
Teasing me made him feel more important.

Hed say things like, Hurry up, ! or Tag, youre it! Then
hed bounce around me like his springs had come unsprung.
Jiffys teasing helped make me what I am, though. I learned to
find the funny. For example, when Jiffy said, You couldnt even
catch a cold, I did great big slow-motion sneezes. The other
animals loved it. Just watch...

One day, Jiffy asked me, Do you ever get any where?
Well, sure, I replied. Wherever I go, there I am. And thats when I had
my great idea. Hey, lets race!

Jiffy laughed until his ears jiggled like jelly. A race! he said. You want
to race me? Have you lost your mind?

I patted my head. No, Im pretty sure its still here. Come on, lets race!
He looked at me, .

Whats the matter? I asked. Scared?

Me? Scared of losing a race to you? Jiffy said. No way!

Roxy the Fox offered to be the judge. She set up the
course. Animals from all over the forest gathered to
see the big event: Tortoise Hare.

On your marks... get set... GO! said Roxy.

Jiffy was off like a streak.

I was off like a smudge.
But as I moved my short little legs as fast
as they would go, all eyes were on me.

I pretended to pant. The animals chuckled. Hey, what did the
snail say when he was riding the tortoises back? I called out.
I paused for just the right amount of time.

WHHEEEEEEE!
Everyone laughed. I made a goofy face, and they laughed harder.
What do you get if you cross a tortoise and a porcupine?
I asked, then paused.... A slow poke!

As the animals hooted,
I made a clumsy attempt
to tap dance. More laughter.