Title: Raccoon’s Last Race
Authors: Joseph and James Bruchac
Summary: This book is about a raccoon whose name is Azban. We read a fable by the same authors, and it was called How Chipmunk got his Stripes, his fable is like that one in a way. Azban taunts the other animals in the forest, to get them mad so they will run races with him. At that time, Azban had long legs so he would always win. During the race he would turn around to look at his aponent and sing “Hee hee hee, look at me. I am Azban, I am fast. Look at you, ho ho ho! You are very slow.” The animals didn’t like at all so they stop talking to him. When he was in the hills he saw an animal and thought to himself “Maybe I could persuade him to race me.” and scrambled to the top of the hill. When he got there he saw it was a big rock, and pushed him so they could race. The rock went so fast, that he ran over Azban. When Azban called for help, all the forest animals just walked past him except a tin ant. The ant said she would help him if Azban became her friend. Azban promised, but after he thought they were done he didn’t keep it. But then he noticed that his legs were very short, and he never won a race again.
Morals: Treat others the way you want to be treated, Be grateful for help, Keep your promises, You can accomplish great things with teamwork.
My Thoughts: I think Azban learned his lesson, because after he treated the forest animals rudely, they didn’t want to help him. When he saw the ant he lied to her. After he thought they finished he just brushed them off and scampered away. After a while, he noticed that his legs were short and he was the slowest animal. I thought Azban wasn’t very nice to the forest animals, so I didn’t really like him.