The Snail and the Whale

My daughter is a big fan of her books so we have a collection at home. This is probably my favourite, I like the flow of the story, the rhyming words, the message to inspire travel and adventure, and the beautiful illustrations throughout. We like the film version too!

Lovely story

Charming children’s book Nicely illustrated

Beautiful story with a lovely message

Bought for a new family member

...this time featuring a 𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 snail + a rather 𝐁𝐈𝐆 humpback whale, with a general mix of this & that in between! One of our favourites. The ‘READ SAMPLE’, ‘PREVIEW’ & current stock images above give an idea of the content, including the inimitable artwork from 𝗔𝘅𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗿. From the back cover: 🐌~ ‘…“How I long to sail!” Said the tiny snail. A snail hitches a ride with a whale and they head off to see the world. But disaster strikes when the whale is beached in a bay. Can the tiny snail think of a plan big enough to save him?’ ooOoo First published 2003; the paperback edition I received on my order is from 2016. Measuring roughly 28 cm x 25 cm, the whale has a ‘wet-look’ finish on the colourful card cover, which is offset by the shiny silver foil finish that glistens in the change of light. Inside are 32 good quality, semi-shiny finish pages, the story running over 30, in double-page spread format. The aforementioned artwork is particularly atmospheric in this tale and offers great scope for further discussion with that ‘the more you look; the more you see’. The accompanying text could benefit from being a bit bolder, I feel, especially on the darker backgrounds, but it is nevertheless typical JD style, packing oodles of descriptive words into the rhyme to challenge the reciter! We are reminded (especially the gardeners among us!) that despite its size, the snail left: ...‘a silvery trail that looped and curled And said... ’Lift wanted around the world’ (in perfect handwriting!) More complex words include: ~ slithered ~ immensely ~ shimmering ~ enormous ~ towering ~ fiery ~ foamed and frolicked and sprayed and splashed ~ feathery ~ hideous ~ zigzag lightning ~ zigging and zooming ~ earsplitting ~ moaned ~ fetching ~ squirting and spraying Later in the story, the snail leaves another silvery message in a prominent place...and it is ALL to the rescue! ooOoo ~ ‘For all at Hillhead Primary School, Wick (JD)’, as mentioned on the very last page. She visited the school in 2003.

Lovely book for kids

This book, like all Julia Donaldson's rhyming books, is very helpful for language development in small children. The story is a little complex for the youngest, however; the two-year-olds I bought it for have been enjoying identifying the volcano, the monkey climbing the tree and the seals and penguins in the land of ice and snow but can't fully follow the storyline. We've been talking about the lightning zigzagging across the sky and the storm, how it frightens the snail. They like the under sea picture and start singing "Daddy Shark do do do do" when they see the sharks swimming around, and I have been teaching them all the names for the under sea creatures (they can say "anemone" better than me now!) They love the scene where the tide comes in and takes the whale back out to sea and all the children are waving goodbye. One little boy in the picture is crying when everybody else is smiling and waving, and that makes them laugh. However, the actual story, sentence structure and language used is a little complex for them. Words like "frolicked" are a bit beyond them. I find I have to shorten most of the text and just read the first couple of lines on most of the pages or they lose interest. Obviously this is something that will change as they grow older. I'd say this story is more suitable for slightly older children, perhaps 4 to 5 year olds. There is one issue I have with this book, given the age group it is aimed at. There is a very strict, punitive teacher in the story who has a cross look on her face and her only interaction with her class is to say "sit still! Don't wriggle! Don't talk!" which is very 1980s and may put children off school just as they are starting! Also, she has a blackboard and chalk which is very out of date these days, as most children have an interactive electronic whiteboard in their classrooms. So the whole premise of the snail being able to leave a trail on the blackboard to write "Save the Whale" would be over the heads of most children as they don't know what a blackboard is anymore. It's these little details that give away Julia Donaldson's age. However, the rhyming is very pleasing and rhythmic.

A board book just the right size and excellent quality.

A Lovely story with lovely illustrations for toddlers

My son loves this book. Quality is good.

Very good quality of the book. The story is adorable and my children love it. It's short, it's got rhyme and it's pleasant to read.

Ideal para iniciar la lectura