The Greatest Race

A colony of Afghan tortoises imported as pets is forced to become refugees in Yosemite National Park when their container falls from a lorry. Anxious to fit in, they accept a challenge to a rematch of the most famous Race, from the local cottontail rabbits. Doing so they make unexpected alliances and cement their place in the community such that the race has no loser, only winners. More

Gul, a young Afghan Tortoise in Yosemite Park, who impulsively accepts a challenge to race from the Cottontail Clan of rabbits. The rabbits, who are distant cousins of the hares, have been twitching for a rematch ever since the legendary race where the tortoise outsmarted the hare. Set in the harsh yet rich landscape of Yosemite, this fun to read adventure story teaches children about collaboration and fostering relationships while raising awareness about illegal poaching.

One cold winter day in Yosemite, Baba Meerza, an afghan tortoise elder taken from his home in Margalla National Park in Pakistan along with his Horsfieldii Clan by poachers, tells the forest younglings a story about a young tortoise named Gul, who is unaware that his clan’s survival in Yosemite Park depends on the outcome of the race. He accepts the challenge for a rematch with Big Ears, the fastest Cottontail rabbit. Little do the tortoises know that the challenge is a well laid out plan by Bushy, the leader of the Cottontails, to get rid of the Horsfieldii clan once and for all.

This story has a double narrative structure, a story within a story and has an underlying message, that there are no losers but only winners. Additionally, this story for ages 7 to 12 and aims to help children deal with transitions in a positive way by using Gul as a role model when he adapts to change and overcomes challenges in a positive manner.

The race is won by the clever tactics of the shell-sliding tortoise but he is going so fast that he overshoots and is saved from disaster by one of the rabbits, such that a lasting friendship and alliance is formed. The story thus combines the theme of refugees forced to make a home in an unfamiliar land, local rivalries and tensions, the unexpected benefits of kindnesses done with no immediately obvious payback, and even the questionable pet trade in imported species. Couched in terms of a venerable tortoise telling the story of the Greatest Race to a mixed-species children’s crèche, the book shows how communities form and get along through mutual cooperation and consideration. The Race, in fact, has no losers, only winners.