View source for Hurry Up and Slow Down by Layn Marlow

{{infobox2 
|title= Hurry Up and Slow Down
|author= Layn Marlow
|reviewer= Jo Heffer
|genre=For Sharing 
|summary= Tortoise and Hare enjoy doing things at different speeds. Hare always wants Tortoise to speed up. That is until it comes to reading books when the important thing is to 'hurry up and slow down'.
|rating=4.5 
|buy= Yes
|borrow= Yes
|pages=32 
|publisher= OUP
|date= April 2009
|isbn=978-0192720801 
|aznuk=0192720805
|aznus=0823421783
|cover=0192720805 
}}

I expect that almost everyone knows the tale of The Hare and The Tortoise where the hare is always in a rush but the tortoise much prefers a steady pace. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that, in this delightful picture book also featuring a hare and a tortoise, the two characters demonstrate the same characteristics. 

The two animals are friends but Hare is constantly impatient with Tortoise because he wants him to do things much more quickly. This includes getting up, crossing the stream, eating lunch and playing a game. At every different action, we see Hare jumping up and down, urging his friend to ''Hurry up and eat up!'', ''Hurry up and keep up!'' and so on. Tortoise will not be hurried though. It's amusing to see how the two creatures approach everything so differently. Things change at night though when Tortoise wants to slowly enjoy a cup of chamomile tea but Hare wants to be read to. Tortoise agrees and attempts to rush through the book before his tea gets cold but Hare is having none of that. Instead of urging Tortoise to rush, this time his plea is to 

''Hurry up and slow down!''

and as he so rightly points out, everyone needs to take their time when enjoying a good book.

I shared this book with my four year old and five year old daughters and they both loved it. They also happen to love all books so they definitely agree with Tortoise's sentiments about reading. The characters are both very expressive and their differences are illustrated well through the beautiful pictures. The story is simple but amusing and the message at the end about making time to enjoy books is definitely worth sharing.

Like most picture books, there is only a small amount of text on each page and the language used is nicely accessible for young children. This means that my five year old can read the book herself but what she likes best is sharing the reading with me. This is made easy because everything that Hare says is represented in a different larger font. If I read the main text, my daughter loves to read Hare's words while putting on a most impatient voice! It makes it most enjoyable for her to be able to share the reading in this way.

This is a lovely book to share with young children and hopefully help them to appreciate just what a pleasure it can be to ''hurry up and slow down'' by sharing a good book.

If this book is likely to appeal to your child, you might also want to take a look at [[Donkey's Busy Day by Natalie Russell]] which is another story featuring animals with very different attitudes.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

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