Turtles Race with Beaver



Title: Turtle's Race with Beaver

Bibliography- Bruchac, Joseph and James Bruchac. 2003. TURTLE'S RACE WITH BEAVER: A TRADITIONAL SENECA STORY. Illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803728522

Plot Summary –Turtle lived in a nice pond her whole life. With winter coming turtle when into hibernation down below and buried herself in some mud. During that time while turtle was hibernating, beaver came and took over the pond. Upon awakening, turtle asked beaver if they could share the pond. Beaver did not want to share the pond. Beaver challenged turtle to a race. The winner would keep the pond. Beaver has the physical advantage, but Turtle’s quickness helps her win the race. Beaver learns a valuable lesson about sharing.

Critical analysis-  The author’s note states that this version of the story come from the Seneca tradition but has been slightly changed through generations. The use of talking animals to tell a story and to teach a lesson is something that native Americans have done throughout their culture. Bruchac mentions in the author’s note that “the story of a weaker but wiser animal winning a race is one of the most common motifs in the animal tales of Native America.”
The text is full of energetic language and onomatopoeia. The illustrations by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey are bright and colorful. The illustrations are made using pen and ink, which highlights the sharpness of the details present in the petals and leaves. The animals are painted in a clear, vibrant format with pastel backgrounds.

In this fable, the central conflict matches physical strength over cleverness. Related to the more widely known “Tortoise and the Hare”, cleverness wins out. The moral of the story is different in this fable.  In “Tortoise and the Hare” the theme was “slow and steady wins the race”, whereas the lesson Beaver learns in the Seneca version is to share with others. At the end of the story, he meets a different turtle in a different pond. This time he has learned his lesson, and the two live “happily through all the seasons to come.”

Review excerpt(s)-

“A clever twist and a final bit of psychological realism give this variant on a Seneca Indian Tortoise and Hare tale unusually broad audience appeal.” – BOOKLIST

 “This sprightly retelling is enhanced by Aruego and Dewey’s characteristically winsome art.”- HORNBOOK

Connections-

Related books:

How Chipmunk got his stripes ( 0142500216)
Read a nonfiction picture book about Native American culture.
Have students write a story using animals to teach a lesson.

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