La primera carrera de Hayseed / Hayseed's First Race

Hayseed's First Race follows Hayseed, a Thoroughbred of a different color, around a race track as he tries to win the first race he has ever taken part in. Hayseed's efforts to win are hampered by Prince Perfect, a champion Thoroughbred who thinks that he is perfect in everyway. Prince Perfect chides Hayseed about his appearance and tells him that he does not belong. Hayseed does not listen to him until, after finding himself in last place and with a reminder from Prince Perfect that he doesn't belong, Hayseed begins to doubt himself. But, just as he is about to lose all hope, he remembers what his mother taught him as a yearling, "Love yourself for who you are, and never, ever, let anyone tell you that you don't belong." With renewed vigor, Hayseed passes one horse and then another and another until he finally catches up with Prince Perfect as they dash across the finish line in a photo-finish. One photograph reveals that the race was a tie, but a second photograph reveals that Hayseed won, and not by a nose, but by "the tippy-tip of one of his rosey-red high tops." Hayseed won his first big race, but more than that, he remembered what his mother had always taught him, "love yourself for who you are and never, ever, let anyone tell you that you don't belong."

Hayseed's First Race is Sally Schrock's first published book. She is the author and illustrator of the book. As a toddler, she was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf, the result of her mother contracting rubella, or German measles, during her pregnancy. In school and with her mother's assistance, she learned to speak and lip-read. She earned her B.A. in English at Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C. At a young age, she discovered her passion for art and horses. As a sophomore at Gallaudet in 1981, she began drawing cartoons, and shortly thereafter Hayseed was ôborn.ö Her early storytelling and artistic influences came from Walt Disney's classic animated films, and more recently, Pixar Animation Studios and Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki (ôSpirited Awayö and ôPrincess Mononokeö), as well as Rumiko Takahashi, the ôPrincess of Mangaö (Japanese-style comics).