2.5 stars
I received an electronic ARC from Imaara Kids Books through NetGalley.
An interesting take on Aesop's Tortoise and the Hare. In this version, the lion believes he is the best but wastes a lot of time dancing and playing rather than working. The tortoise is slow and plans and thinks to complete tasks. To earn the King's daughter in marriage they have to build a home. Lion dances several days away while Tortoise builds a house. The Gazelle chooses him and they marry and have a happy life. I like the concept for young readers but am not impressed that the Tortoise paid the drummers to distract Lion. That feels like cheating to me as it did when he convinced Lion to wait until morning to approach the King so he could get there first. Not sure that's the lesson we want readers to learn.

The Lion, the Tortoise, and the Princess Gazelle is a charmingly illustrated variation of a folk tale. Part "Tortoise and the Hare" fable and part engagement challenge fairy tale, the book follows a lion who loves to dance and a slow-moving but clever tortoise who both seek to marry the Princess Gazelle. (Why is a bit unclear in this animal world...)

A plus here is that it is the Princess herself who sets the task, not her father, in this case, to build her a house, because clearly she is practical. (Though, again, questioning the dynamics of a gazelle/lion or gazelle/tortoise relationship)

Predictably, the tortoise works hard and wins the challenge. The lion continually gets distracted by his desire to dance when he hears drumming and fails to complete the challenge. The tortoise, being clever, has helped arrange for the daily drumming as a distraction. While I can understand the discomfort with this message expressed by other early reviewers, I actually appreciate that this keeps the element of clever trickery that underlies the storytelling traditions from which this book is borrowing. The message becomes more complex, not just being industrious, but working with all of one's strengths.

The illustrations, by Rob Foote, are really quite lovely. Bright and vivid, they feature elongated, upright standing, stylized animals with gorgeously painted backgrounds. The book does seem to present the lion as the main character, in some ways as he is the most active throughout the story with his constant dancing. These moments of movement are well captured in the composition of each page. This does push the reader to feel bad for the lion who slinks off at the end and this more than the thematic message of the folk story may be where the book might fall a bit flat with children.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advanced e-copy of this book for review.

The Lion, the Tortoise, and the Princess Gazelle is a fun and vibrant twist on the classic tortoise and the hare story. I love how easy the pictures depicted the story, my 5 year old can easily figure out what's going on in the book without me reading it to her.

Well, I didn't like the concept of the story.

I understand that it's a story meant to teach children about the demerits of someone who's proud and easily distracted like the lion's character in the story and the merits of someone who keeps working hard day and night without wasting time like the turtoise.

Yes, a fine alternate version of the hare and the turtoise.

But what I didn't appreciate how the turtoise did his part in actually planning to distract his opponent by paying others to do so. It's a children's book I mean. I don't like this part at all.

I love the artwork.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy.

A fun spin on the classic fable, the tortoise and the hare. The illustrations are beautiful and vibrant. A vain, distractable lion takes the role of the hare in this tale. The story is predictable but teaches a good lesson to be smart and hard working.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

The Lion, the Tortoise, and the Princess Gazelle is a lovely story with a very important message. It has got beautiful illustrations and I really liked the African setting.

It´s a perfect bedtime story for children.

The tortoise and the hare, reimagined, with colourful and delightful illustrations that will appeal to the reader. I cannot find anything negative to say! I look forward to finding this on the library shelf in the future to read to my grandchildren. My thanks to Netgalley and publisher for granting me an ebook edition in exchange for my impartial review. 5 stars from me.

The picture book contains beautiful illustrations that are self-explaining even without the text, making the story very enjoyable to read. In my opinion, the plot could have been a bit more profound and longer, as the moral of the story could be misunderstood due to its brevity.

All in all, however, a cute and entertaining children's story with adorable illustrations.

This was our first bedtime read tonight. My boys loved the colourful pictures. It was a great little story with a moral attached to it. It is the story of a Foolish lion named Odum whose vanity and laziness means he is easily tricked by the clever tortoise, Mbe. My children loved seeing the animals, such as the lion and gazelles. An adorable read.

Thank you for sharing the book with me #NetGalley !

I was instantly mesmerized opening this book. The illustration was eye-catching that made me turn the pages to see more. The African setting was already a good bargain, and the story itself, though similar to the tortoise and the hare, is another good reminder on how pride can make you fall.

I read this to my niece and she loved the pictures. She's 3 so I think she may have had a harder time following along but I think she understood for the most part. I liked the message that the book was about. We should never doubt a persons ability by how they look. While the turtle looked weak, small, and slow he used wit and patience to beat his opponent.

The Lion, the Tortoise, and the Princess Gazelle is a book about a competition to win a princess' hand in marriage and the downfall of pride.

The illustrations were beautiful - vivid colours and a lovely art style.

The book also had a clear moral message - don't be too prideful and underestimate others.

However, I would have liked the princess to have had more of a voice - she is the only female character (there are 3 male characters) and she seems to just be a prize to win rather than a character with as much detail as the lion and tortoise.

the lion and the tortoise are competing for the princesses hand in marriage. This is definitely a story that kids will love! The ending was predictable (at least to an adult), but it was still enjoyable to read.

I really enjoyed this story and the images were lovely.

The book was well written and the images really brought the book to life.

I love reading books like this with my daughter and getting to read the different folk tales from around the world.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, it is well written with some lovely images – highly recommended!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Imaara Kids Books for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. the illustrations are quite nice. This is a retelling of the tortoise and the hare. Ok the lion was lazy and deserves not.to win the gazelle. But do we want to promote paying others in order to win? In my eyes the tortoise cheated. I didn't particularly like the story. 3 stars

My 5 year old grandson enjoyed the story and the illustrations. But, he didn't ask to read it again the next night which is my measure of how much he really enjoyed it. It is a wonderful book.

I read this book with my daughter and we enjoyed the story and the lovely, bright illustrations. The book was about a lion and a tortoise who wanted to marry a princess. The lion was arrogant and was always dancing and the tortoise was slow, but he was clever. The King announced that the one who built a house for the princess the fastest would win her hand in marriage. Who was the winner?

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic story, with beautiful illustrations about a boastful, proud lion and a clever tortoise who both want to marry the princess but who will win her hand.

The Lion, The Tortoise, and The Princess Gazelle is a reimagining of the story of the tortoise and the hare which some new twists. I loved the West African backdrop for the story and the illustrations done by Rob Foote are gorgeous and fun. I love that this story could be presented alongside the tortoise and the hare and used for comparison while highlighting the beautiful differences in this story. I think this book would be a wonderful addition to an elementary classroom library.

This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful, quick children’s book with a cute ending that has a lesson that hard work and being clever is better than arrogance. The best part of this book though was the lovely artwork.