A fast-paced nautical fable with the moral "Work smarter, not harder." Skip is a seahorse who swims slowly but thinks fast. When he challenges Abby the braggy crab to a long-distance swim, his clever idea is not to swim HARDER, but to swim SMARTER. Will it be enough to win THE RACE ON MERMAID REEF? Abby is the best at running, swimming, and burrowing and she likes to brag about it! Skip and his friends get tired of her constant bragging and challenge Abby to a series of races. No matter how hard they try, Abby always wins. Skip, who's not a good swimmer, needs a clever idea to beat Abby. With a witty idea and lot of effort, even a seahorse (the slowest species of fish in the sea) can win over a braggy crab. Join Skip, Abby, Lola, and Ray as they learn that working smarter is more important that working harder. In the final pages, young readers learn fun facts about marine animals and about currents in our oceans. Featuring the fun and memorable sea creatures of MERMAID REEF (Mermaids Don't Fart, Mermaid's School of Art, Eel's Book of Mermaid Jokes, and Shrimp's Book of Fun Animal Facts), The Race on Mermaid Reef is loosely based on The Tortoise and the Hare, beautifully illustrated, and written in delightful poetry (stanzas of anapestic tetrameter). Includes Math worksheets for preschool/Kindergarten and for 1st to 3rd grades.