Little Tortoise is like many of us, students and teachers alike. She has all the best intentions and makes her preparations, but still has trouble getting to school on time. "Little Tortoise zooms like the wind. A slow wind. More of a gentle breeze, really." Channeling her hero, Super Tortoise, she speeds toward school at her fastest pace. Unfortunately, all her friends are much faster. Cheetah zooms by. So do Llama, Snail (on a scooter), and Pangolin. And when one of her friends goes by too quickly, Little Tortoise is left upside down with no way to right herself - right at the front steps of the school. So close! Luckily, someone else is also moving a little slowly this morning and comes to her rescue.
The illustrations capture the determined trek of our heroine, along with the velocity of her classmates. Along with the slow progress of Tortoise from the left side of the spread to the right, page after page, there are also individualized sound effects for each animal. "Plonk-a-plunk" goes Little Tortoise. "Wock-a-pa" trots Llama. "Sha-shoom" zips Cheetah. And to add to the humor of the story, one classmate has overslept and is the very last to get to class with a "Thump-ity THUMP." (Guess who?) The end papers show Little T preparing for school with the date circled on her calendar at the front of the book, and then show her asleep with the day successfully crossed off at the back of the book.
Readers of all ages will be cheering for Little Tortoise as she takes off "LICKETY-SPLIT! LICKETY-SPLIT again! LICKETY-SPLIT LOUDER! LICKETY-SPL --There she goes!" Use this book for back-to-school fun, or for a gentle reminder about how each member of the class has their individual strengths and weaknesses. You may even want to pair it with a favorite version of The Tortoise and the Hare.
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