Animated The Hare And The Tortoise Cover
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The Hare And The Tortoise Short Story & Audiobook

A hare and a tortoise are not exactly evenly matched but decide to have a race. Who will win and who will learn a big lesson?

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The Hare And The Tortoise

One fine day a hare was being a bit unkind and made fun of his friend the tortoise for being such a slowcoach.

The hare laughed and laughed and said, "How do you ever actually get anywhere?" 

"Hmmm," replied the tortoise, "Oh, I get there all right and much sooner than you might think. Why don’t we run a race and you will find out?"

a grey hare hops in the air next to a green tortoise

The hare thought this was highly amusing and giggled as he pictured himself zipping along miles ahead of the slow old tortoise. “Okay, you’re on,” agreed the hare. They got their friend the fox to act as the judge and he counted down, “5,4,3,2,1 and off you go!”

Very quickly, the hare raced ahead and he was way off in the distance as the tortoise crept slowly along on his little legs, carrying the heavy shell on his back.

The hare knew the tortoise was a very long way back and would take ages to catch up. So he thought he would have a little sleep and that would make the tortoise feel very silly for challenging him, a hare, to a race. Then he could spring up and dash for the finish line.

the grey hair lies on their back asleep while the tortoise sneaks past

Now, the tortoise just kept plodding slowly and steadily along and, as time went on, he passed the spot where the hare lay fast asleep. The tortoise just kept going until he was very close to the finish line. The hare suddenly woke up and ran as fast as he could but he was too late. The tortoise crossed the line and was declared the winner.  

And the moral of that story is that it's not always the fastest who wins the race.


The End

Can you read The Hare And The Tortoise story for free?

Yes! You can read The Hare And The Tortoise story for free. Our story retellings closely follow the original storylines and add modern twists in the illustrations.

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You can choose to experience this story read aloud or you can read it yourself.

Is this a good bedtime story?

This is a great example of a bedtime story. It’s nostalgic for parents and has a happy ending for kids. That’s if they make it to the end of the story before falling asleep!

Why do we write bedtime stories for kids?

When we first decided to create a bedtime story for kids, we knew we wanted it to be fun, engaging and high quality.

We wanted Sooper Books to bring children's publishing into the 21st century. We strongly believe that nighttime stories for kids need to fit seamlessly into modern family lives which is why our free stories are all online.

It began when we started writing stories for our own family. Then our friends and wider families asked for copies and we started to share Sooper Books with other children.

At Sooper Books we write, curate and narrate stories for kids so they can enjoy the best quality content, enchanting stories and magical adventures. With our stories we work towards promoting a positive attitude to reading and instill a love of books in children from an early age.

About Sooper Books

Our 5-10 minute online kids bedtime stories, fairy tales, funny rhymes and fables all come with award-winning audio.

From short stories for kids to multiple story episodes in our original series collections, our content is sure to make your little ones’ eyes sparkle with delight.

At Sooper Books, children can explore the magical world of fairies and witches, brave knights, talking animals and more. Our stories for kids feature an array of characters such as lovable princesses, funny frogs, gentle giants and wise wizards.

So whether you're specifically looking for a fairy tale or a rhyme, or maybe you just need some short bedtime stories for kids. Take the stress out of bedtime by reading one of our kids stories today!