The author-illustrator team who brought us the best-selling LITTLE BEAR series offers a reassuring reminder that there s an ideal friend for everyone, no matter what your style. I wish I had someone to play with, thought Harry. Someone not quick who has time to play with a tortoise. No question, Harry Tortoise is slow. He s very, very, very slow. And everyone is so fast. If only he could find a friend as slow as he is, they could play games like Slow Races, and Turning Around and Turning Around Again. Even better, they could talk about how good it is to be slow, and how very, very nice it is to be friends. Isn t there anyone out there who appreciates life in the s-l-o-w lane? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The author/artist team behind Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? and its companions advance their latest story at a snail's pace-and that's a virtue in this sweetly winning picture book. Harry the tortoise wants to play, but Buster Rabbit, Stan Badger and the others leave him in the dust, racing ahead before he can even finish the conversation. With a minimum of inkstrokes and simple watercolor wash, Firth's portraits of the expressive hero convey his hopefulness at each meeting and his disappointment at each parting. In the end, Harry finds someone his own speed: Sam Snail. Waddell and Firth relate this minimal story with outsize artistry. The text, spare at the outset, grows almost effusive once Harry and Sam get going. Its droll humor, however, stays understated even as Harry and Sam play (their games include "Slow Races" and "Heads In and Heads Out"). The design accommodates a range of visual jokes, beginning with the deliberately attenuated exchanges between the characters (Harry's two-sentence dialogue with the rabbit, for example, occupies four full spreads). Firth throws in just enough comic touches. Harry wears a baseball cap; various insects act as interested onlookers; Sam Snail announces his presence with a surprise, ta-da!-like gesture. The horizontal format, as if scaled to a tortoise's vantage point, will draw in and hold the audience. Ages 3-6. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information