Tortoise and Hare's Amazing Race

Tortoise and Hare's Amazing Race
by Marianne Berkes; illus. by Cathy Morrison
32 pages; ages 4-8
Arbordale books, 2015

Henry Hare was always bragging. "I can run faster than anybody..." and he wonders how Tortoise can ever get anywhere because she moves so slowly.

Tortoise says she plans ahead and stays on track, but Henry challenges her to a race. The finish line: the top of the hill, 1760 yards away - a mile.

Starting at 6 am the race is on. From there on, the race is measured in fractions of total distance, and also in feet. So the language of math becomes part of the tale. I don't need to tell you the ending because you already know it: slow and steady wins the race.

At the back are four pages of activities for creative minds: things to measure, using different measurement tools, an introduction to "greater than" and "less than" and a letter scramble puzzle.

Review copy from the publisher.

Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon

Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon
by Ute Krause
40 pages; ages 4-8
North-South, 2010 (English translation)

I love tales of dragons, so I just had to read this one. Even if it has been on shelves for a few years.

The story begins before the title page...
"Imagine a very dangerous dragon. Like this." Only... five times as dangerous and wa-a-ay bigger... and now, once you've imagined it, you can turn the page.

Traditionally, every year, the people feed the Very Hungry Dragon a princess. But this year the kingdom is all out of princesses. So the people do what people in all sorts of books do: they hold a lottery.

Oscar's name is chosen, and he heads up the tall, tall mountain to the dragon's lair. But Oscar has no intention of becoming a meal. First, he tells the dragon that he's too small to eat, and needs fattening up to make a real meal. When the dragon wants to see if Oscar's getting plump, the kid borrows a trick from "Hansel & Gretel". Of course, fattening up means that Oscar needs to cook, so he writes out shopping lists for the dragon. I don't want to spoil the ending except to say it is FUN! and it reminds me a lot of Patricia Wreade's "Dealing With Dragons".

Review copy provided by the publisher.