The Rabbit and the Turtle

Almost everyone has heard and come to love Aesop's fables as a child. It's fun to hear someone retell the fables in their own words and it is even better to listen to a child guess the moral of the story. The inimitable Eric Carle has done the beautiful artwork and retold eleven of these tales for a new generation of listeners. Of course children can read these tales, but it is always more fun to listen to a storyteller's rhythmical voice relate a tale. How many of these tales do you remember and can you still hear the voice that may have told you the story? The Lion and the Mouse The Wolf and the Dog The Fox and the Crane The Cat and the Mouse The Monkey and the Fox The Rabbit and the Turtle The Wolf and the Lamb The Frog and the Ox The Blackbird and the Peacocks The Fox and the Crow The Grasshopper and the Ants The illustrations are unique and endearing. The stories, done in Eric Carle's own "voice," have a slightly different twist, but essentially remain the same as the classic tale. For example, the moral of The Lion and the Mouse is usually said to be "Little friends may prove great friends." In Carle's slightly different rendition it is "Friends come in all sizes and shapes." The print is fairly small and might be difficult for the young reader. This book would be a marvelous read aloud book in a classroom or homeschool setting. "Do not try to be something you are not." Can you guess which fable this moral comes from?