Slow Going: The Great Easter Race (Sesame Street Scribbles) by Craig Manning

IT'S A BRIGHT EASTER MORNING ON SESAME STREET,
AND OUT IN THE PARK, FRIENDS ARE STARTING TO MEET.

"RACE!" CRIED BIG BIRD. "COME ONE AND COME ALL!
THE YOUNG AND AND THE OLD. THE SHORT AND THE TALL!"

All the Sesame Street gang are there, warming up for the Easter Race and stretching their legs . They're not running for the roses! They're running for the EGGS!

There are other entrants for the big race, too--a leggy, over-confident rabbit and a very slow but steady turtle.

(SPOILER ALERT! You may already know who's going to win this race!)

Turtle trudges off, muttering his mantra ("Slow and steady wins the race....") while Rabbit streaks away, out of sight, losing all the other runners in his dust. But this Bunny is easily distracted by the new spring things along the race route. Cookie Monster is positioned under a tree with a basket of cookies, and they're all free! Bunny munches awhile and, seeing Turtle toddling along in the distance, zips off again. But what's this! There's Ernie, with a dozen cutesy ducklings! Runner Bunny just has to stop and play with them.

It seems that fabulous running rabbit is having a bit of trouble staying on task. But there's Turtle, tootling along, still behind, but closing, so Bunny blasts off again. But it's not long before he slides to a sudden stop. What does he see up in that little tree? Peeping birdies in a nest? He just has to take a peep, too. And then, while he's under that tree with the nest....

WHY NOT HAVE A REST?

By this time it's clear where this one is going, in Craig Manning's breezy retelling of Aesop's ancient fable of The Tortoise and the Hare replayed with Easter trimmings and the Sesame Street regulars, The Great Easter Race! (Sesame Street Scribbles) (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2017). It's three for the price of one, with artist Ernie Kwiat's jolly pastel illustrations of the Sesame gang, costumed for Easter, as they act out one of the oldest tales in human literature and join in discovering the surprises spring brings, while, for young Eastertide celebrants the Easter Bunny makes a surprise cameo appearance with some colorful treats for all.

And for those who like their Easter-related fables with gears and wheels, pair this one with Kristen Larsen's Mater and the Easter Buggy (Disney/Pixar Cars) (Read review here).