By: Julia Donaldson Publisher: Puffin Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Puffin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 32 Publication Date: April 06, 2006 Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Book Description: This is the tale of a tiny snail and a great big whale. The snail may be small, but she has huge dreams of seeing the world. So she hitches a ride on a friendly whale’s back to see amazing sights. Icebergs and volcanoes, storms and sharks—the two friends see it all together. And when the whale runs into trouble, the snail proves that even the tiniest creature can help a friend in a very big way. The creators of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom have teamed up again to bring you this whale of a tale.
Love it! My family is very fond of all of Julia Donaldson's books, but The Snail and the Whale is our very favorite. Axel Sheffler's illustrations are whimsical (My son has noticed that most of the insects he draws have noses)and beautiful. I am especially fond of its rhyming, making it a delight to read. Most of all, I love the messages it contains. One of which is that the world is vast and wonderful and we should get out and experience it. Also, it stresses the importance of helping one another, and being kind to our environment. A big nod goes out to The Snail and the Whale and its creators for giving us a book which is not only wonderful to look at and read, but has a valuable message. Thanks!
We LOVE this book! This is one of those books that I could read every night and not get sick of. In fact, over the past three years I HAVE read it every night for weeks at a time and still love the flow of the text.
My favorite lines include, "And she gazed at the sky, the sea, the land, The waves and the caves and the golden sand. She gazed and gazed, amazed by it all, And she said to the whale, 'I feel so small.'" The word "small" is in a smaller font than the rest of the text and is so appropriate for the two page spread that includes the tiny snail (barely visible) amidst a scene of snowy mountains, forests, bears, bald eagles, the sea.
Perfect for teaching the concept that it doesn't matter how big or small you are, you ARE important and CAN be successful. As the snail sets off on his mission (I won't spoil it), the text reads "'I must not fail,' said the tiny snail." GREAT lesson!
Can you tell that we love this book?!?!?
Beautiful and so very sweet I read 3 books every night to my almost-4 year old daughter (I love to read and share this love with her) and this is one of our very favorites. It is beautifully written, marvelously illustrated and just so very sweet. My husband loves to read it too. A book for children that makes even parents dream about travelling adventures on the back of the whale! Most highly recommended.
Really good book My 27 month old son and I really enjoy Julia Donaldson's books and this book is among our favorites. It was the first of her books that we read and we liked it so much that we thought to purchase her other books without looking at other reviews and we have not been disappointed. She is a great children's book author and knows how to keep her stories interesting and just the right length for their attention span(I started this book with my son when he was under two and instead of reading the printed text which would be too long for a two year old, I described each page since the illustrations tell the story themselves-I was able to keep his interest by adding a little bit of detail each time we read it.) The illustrations are wonderful and I feel like my son got exposed to the great vastness of this world by simply going on an adventure with the snail and the whale:-)
Nice story and fun to read The story of a snail that wants to see the world and the whale that gives her a ride. Very nice story and the rhymes and the cadence make it fun to read out loud.
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