Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel
Illustrated by Sarah Goodreau
Kar-Ben (Lener)
Hare is so much faster than his best friend Tortoise. and he is ready to prove it, in a race all the way from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea.
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A PJ Library selection
“In this picture book, the title characters are friends who live in Tel Aviv, and they’re racing each other to the Dead Sea. Hare keeps getting distracted by the local sights. He stops by the shuk to buy dried apricots. He sits down in an oasis to enjoy tea and baklava. Readers will sympathize. Every page is full of so many wonderful distractions….” —Kirkus
“Gehl uses the framework of Aesop’s well-known fable to give readers a brief overview of some of Israel’s cultural and topographical highlights. After visiting the beach, the opera, and museums, Hare and Tortoise stage a race to the Dead Sea. While Hare dashes ahead, Tortoise takes time to say shalom to passersby. ‘Want to share my falafel?’ he asks Hare innocently, after catching up to him midway through the race. Working in a milky, muted palette, Goudreau’s crisply defined illustrations successfully capture Israel’s urban bustle, geographic diversity, and leisure attractions, including the friends’ dip in the Dead Sea afterward. ‘Slow and steady might win the race,’ Tortoise admits, ‘but I’m hot and sore, too.'” —Publishers Weekly
