Based on a Nigerian folktale,
this story pits a clever hare against an elephant and hippopotamus
who both have been rather nasty to the little fellow.
“What a tiny, wimpy thing you are, with those ridiculous
ears. All you do is hop around,’ says the Hippo.
The elephant is no better with his taunts. ‘Hare, you
really are a feeble idiot, with your twitching nose and whiskers.
That’s all you have.’
Fed up with all this nastiness, the hare challenges his much
larger adversaries to a tug-of-war. Now you are wondering,
no doubt, how is a little hare going to outpull these two
huge animals?
Hare is going to use his wits. He is going to devise a competition
that will not only stymie his opponents but also underscore
just how dense they both really are. Of course, I’m
not going to tell you how he does this. You’ll just
have to read the story.
With cheeky wit and his signature illustrative style, John
Burningham brings this classic story to life again which humorously
illustrates the fact that brains can usually trump brute strength.
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