Bruchac, Joseph and James Bruchac. Turtle’s race with beaver. Ill. Aruego, Jose and Ariane Dewey. 2003. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Turtle loves her pond: shallow water, plenty of food, and rocks on which to sun herself. As the weather becomes cold, turtle goes down to the bottom of her pond to bury herself in the mud for the winter. While she’s away, Beaver happens into Turtle’s beautiful pond and begins to chop down trees to build a dam and a lodge for the winter. When Turtle returns, she explains to Beaver that the pond was her home, but she would be willing to share it. Beaver would not hear of it! He challenges Turtle to a race; winner gets to stay in the pond.
The plot is a variant of the Tortoise and the Hare retold in the Seneca tradition and remains accurate to the classic tale of wisdom (Turtle) versus strength (Beaver). As one may expect, the setting is generalized (a lake) and the characters are symbolic - easy for a child to see himself in a similar situation. Bruchac includes a note where he shares some background of the storytelling traditions of Native Americans. Interesting information - definitely a place to begin a study of folktales.
The simplicity of the language and syntax is mirrored in the illustrations. The characters facial expressions add an extra layer of details that children will enjoy. Aruego and Dewey used pen-and-ink, gouache, and pastels to make the illustrations colorful and vivid. “…there are plenty of visual cues to the contestants’ emotional states in the illustrators’ bright, flowing scenes. A natural candidate for reading aloud, and for follow-up discussions, too.”
This book could be paired up with other retellings that Bruchac has written - such as Racoon's Last Race- to teach a unit on folktales or Native Americans. He also has written fiction, non-fiction, and poetry the one can use for an author study.
The simplicity of the language and syntax is mirrored in the illustrations. The characters facial expressions add an extra layer of details that children will enjoy. Aruego and Dewey used pen-and-ink, gouache, and pastels to make the illustrations colorful and vivid. “…there are plenty of visual cues to the contestants’ emotional states in the illustrators’ bright, flowing scenes. A natural candidate for reading aloud, and for follow-up discussions, too.”
This book could be paired up with other retellings that Bruchac has written - such as Racoon's Last Race- to teach a unit on folktales or Native Americans. He also has written fiction, non-fiction, and poetry the one can use for an author study.
Notes:
Peters, John. “Turtle’s Race with Beaver.” Booklist OnLine. (Sept. 15, 2003). Accessed June 19, 2011. http://www.booklistonline.com/Turtle-s-Race-with-Beaver-Jose-Aruego/pid=1142940.
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