I think many, if not most, of us are familiar with the classic fable of The Hare and the Tortoise, but wait until you see this version of the popular tale, retold and illustrated by Helen Ward and published by @templarbooks.
Helen Ward has put her own slant on this tale, extending the audience of this famous race to creatures from across the globe, which she has illustrated in the most exquisite detail. Whilst the race takes a slightly different course to the one we are familiar with, the outcome is, of course, the same, and you are left with the same lack of sympathy for the hare and a general feeling of joy that the slow-witted and stupid tortoise won in the end.
The story ends but is not closed until you have worked your way through the appendix listing all the animals included in the illustrations and the story. The wonderful facts about each animal will fill your young reader's mind with awe and wonder, along with a wide array of useful general knowledge!
Slow and steady certainly wins the race, but Helen Ward and Templar Books are definitely winning with this beautiful book. It's a timeless story for young and old alike because the moral is a very valuable one. A perfect addition to a Christmas stocking. RRP: GBP6.99. Available to buy online or from any good booksellers.
Helen Ward trained as an illustrator at Brighton School of Art, under the direction of well-known children's illustrators such as Raymond Briggs, Justin Todd, Chris McEwan and John Vernon Lord. In 1985, her final year at Brighton, Helen was awarded the first Walker Prize for Children's Illustration.
Awards for Helen's work include The National Art Library Awards 1998 and 2001 for The Hare and the Tortoise and her version of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows in the Templar Classic series, and The National Art Library Award for The Tin Forest. She was shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award in 2003 for The Cockerel and the Fox. This book also won the award in the children's trade category at the British Book Design and Production Awards presented in November 2003.
Helen Ward lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire.