Wally Mammoth: The Sled Race. (w) Corey R. Tabor. (a) Dalton Webb. HarperCollins. 2025. 32pp. $10.39.
There’s a fanciful internal logic that kids and adults will love from the very first page onward in Wally Mammoth: The Sled Race. If this is in step with current kid favorite trends, that’s a bonus. I tune into its broader timeless appeal. My dear beloved friend, Dalton Webb, is the illustrator. He passed away only a week ago and he leaves behind many saddened souls who appreciate him and his amazing skill. This, no doubt, includes the book’s creator and writer, Corey R. Tabor, who dedicated the book: “To Dalton, for bringing Wally to life.”
If anyone could tap into the innocence and playful quality of a precocious little Wooly, or Wally, Mammoth, it would be Dalton Webb. In the many years I knew him, Dalton always had at least one, if not more, cat companions. He was utterly fascinated with crows. He may have been one in another life. Dalton loved any creature, big or small, that would fit into a magical realm. So, that sensibility of celebrating joyous mayhem at a rollicking tea party is at play here.
The story is elegantly simple. Wally and his two buddies sort of stumble into a sled race with a confused notion of what the heck they’re doing. And, like a classic tale by Dr. Seuss, they manage, if you read between the lines, to delve into philosophical questions: What is a competition? What does it mean to win–or to lose? And, yes, this is for young readers. But adults, especially parents, will love it too.
This is a gentle story about how it doesn’t matter if you win or lose but how you play the game. I know it’s a story that resonated with Dalton and it is how he lived his life. In the end, Dalton did indeed win the game of life. This delightful story brings that sentiment home in a light and engaging way sure to please the wee ones.
