Loudmouth George and the Big Race

A highly moral tale, this, with a message for anyone who prefers talking to doing. George boasts of his athletic abilities but is too lazy to practise and too greedy to control his diet (you see what I mean by a moral tale ... I was consumed with guilt all through it). As a result, of course, the big race is a disaster. At first, both I and the class thought this was going to be a revamp of The Hare and the Tortoise, an impression reinforced by the fact that George is a rabbit. It is more original than that, however, and is perhaps summed up by saying that slow and steady might win races, but slow and flabby certainly does not! A good read-aloud, this one, but not an easy text for independent reading; a certain sophistication is needed for the flow of the language. Middle to Tops managed better.