Hurry Up and Slow Down
Written and Illustrated by Layn Marlow

The well-loved traditional Aesop’s fable of the Tortoise and the Hare is retold with endearing pictures and brief, lively conversation.  Unlike Tortoise, Hare likes to hurry through the day; however, Tortoise must make Hare slow down for his favorite activity of the day . . . reading a bedtime story.

Biographical sketches:
Layn Marlow is a British artist who studied the History of Art and Architecture at Reading University.  Once a librarian, Marlow has written and illustrated picture books for children that have been published in many countries around the world.  Her book titles include:  A Witch with a Twitch and Little by Little.  Marlow lives with her husband and two children in the United Kingdom.

Suggested Activities:
1.  Explore the world of animals.  Look at the differences between a turtle and a tortoise.  Look at the differences between a hare and a rabbit.  Search for other similar, yet different, creatures.

2.  Select a variety of fables from the library (see list below).  Compare longer story versions to the classic short fables credited to Aesop.  Examples include Tortoise and the Hare adapted and illustrated by Janet Stevens and Aesop's Fables illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. 

3.  Define a moral.  Look at the morals of different fables.  Select a moral without reading the fable and try to create a story to fit the moral.

4.  Act out the movements of the characters in Hurry Up and Slow Down focusing on fast and slow.  List activities or tasks that are naturally completed fast and those that are slow.  Sing an activity song such as Itsy Bitsy Spider or Do Your Ears Hang Low in a fast tempo and then repeat in a slow tempo.

5.  Retell the story with puppets or stuffed animals.  Create stick puppets or paper bag puppets.

6.  Discuss the personalities of the two characters: Hare and Tortoise.  Have the students decide if they are more like Tortoise or Hare.

7.  Share some examples of animal sayings from There's a Frog in My Throat by Leedy and Street.  Discuss the characteristics of Hare and Tortoise.  Have the students create some of their own expressions.

Illustrated Fables:
Brett, Jan.  Town Mouse, Country Mouse.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994.
Carle, Eric.  Rabbit and the Turtle.  Orchard Books, 2008.
Forest, Heather.  The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind.  August House, 2008.
Palatini, Margie.  Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes.  Simon & Schuster, 2009.
Pinkney, Jerry.  Aesop’s Fables.  Chronicle Books, 2000.
Pinkney, Jerry.  Lion & the Mouse.  Little, Brown, 2009.
Stevens, Janet.   Tortoise and the Hare.  Holiday House, 1984.

Companion Books:
Leedy, Loreen and Pat Street.  There’s a Frog in My Throat.  Holiday House, 2003.
Lobel, Arnold.  Frog and Toad Together.  HarperCollins, 1979.
Rohmann, Eric.  My Friend Rabbit.  Roaring Brook Press, 2002. 
Rosenthal, Amy Krouse.  Duck! Rabbit!  Chronicle Books, 2009.
Willems, Mo.  My Friend is Sad.  Hyperion, 2007.

Books Illustrated by Layn Marlow:
Bedtime for Button by Amber Stewart.  Orchard Books, 2009.
Christmas Wishes by Tony Mitton, Barron’s, 2007.
Little by Little by Amber Stewart.  Orchard Books, 2008.
A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage.  Orchard Books, 2009.

Book Written by Layn Marlow:
The Witch with a Twitch illustrated by Joelle Dreidemy.  Tiger Tales, 2006.

Websites:
This online collection of over 655 Aesop’s Fables includes full text, some audio, some illustration and a searchable index.  Fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen are also available on this site.
http://www.aesopfables.com/

First-School offers free lesson plans, educational activities, craft projects, worksheets and other resources for young children.
www.first-school.ws/activities/fable/turtlehare.htm

Storyteller Heather Forest provides a collection of story-related activities to encourage speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
http://storyarts.org/lessonplans/

Students at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have illustrated traditional and modern versions of Aesop’s fables.  Some stories are a series of static pictures and some have simplistic animation and/or sound.
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/index.php

Author / illustrator Layn Marlow’s website offers a short biography, examples of her illustrations and several coloring pages of characters from her books.
http://www.laynmarlow.co.uk/funstuff.htm