Review Detail

The Fastest Tortoise in Town

Kids Fiction 604

Slow and steadfast win the race

April 29, 2023 (Updated: June 08, 2026)

Overall rating

4.5

Plot

4.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Entering a race is always a nail biting experience, but Barbara Hendricks, a tortoise, doesn't have any nails to bite! Instead, she worries about her performance. Her young owner Lorraine helps her to train, going on walks, lifting weights, climbing stairs, and even having a rest day, eating ice cream and not training. When the day arrives, Lorrain finds Barbara Hendricks hiding in her shell, but encourages her to come out and do her best, pretending it is one of their ordinary walks. At the stadium, the competitors start to line up; a slug, a snail, a slow loris, and even a grumpy walrus! Barbara Hendricks puts on her bib and heads to the starting line. Putting one foot ahead of the other, she does her best, and even wins the race! All of her hard work paid off. After the celebration, she meets a hare who asks if she would like to race. Lorraine says "Why not?" and Barbara Hendricks, filled with new found confidence, takes on yet another competitor.

Good Points

Some reviews call this a twist on Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Hare" fable, but it's really not. It's more a discussion about perseverance and motivation. When I coached cross country, this would have been a fantastic book to read to my runners, since many of them wanted to win races but didn't want to practice! I loved that Barbara does the work she needs to do to prepare for the race, even if her tiny little tortoise face shows her exertion quite clearly! It's often hard to attempt difficult things, and young readers will identify with Barbara's apprehension.

I do wish that I knew why the tortoise is named that. Is it after the opera singer? There are no notes about it.

Finison's Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School! has a similar looking reptile, and Reidy's Truman offers another look at a friendship between a girl and a tortoise, but most picture books favor turtles. I would argue that Singh and Kaur's Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon is a good companion to this one because of the running, and because of Fauja Singh's determination!