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The Snail and the Whale
When a tiny snail meets a humpback whale, the two travel together to far-off lands. It's a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too-close to shore, will the snail be able to save her new friend? From the creators of "Room on the Broom and "The Gruffalo comes this touching tale of adventure and friendship. With vi...more
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
April 6th 2006
by Puffin Books
(first published 2003)
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The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is a wonderful rhyming story about a sea snail that is eager to travel the world. The rest of the flock are not so enthusiastic about the idea but one day the snail meets up with a whale that invites her to join him as they travel the world. Together they go on an amazing journey, past icebergs and volcanoes, sharks and penguins, the little snail feels so small in the vastness of the world. However when disasters strikes and the whale...more
Forget 'The Gruffalo'. This is the book Julia Donaldson should be remembered and revered for. While The Gruffalo is a rather simplistic, nonsensical tale of a quick-thinking mouse out-smarting his predators, The Snail and the Whale is much more ambitious in its concept, ideas and story-telling. It is, at once, about dreaming big, exploring your full potential, broadening your horizons, rising to seemingly impossible challenges, being willing to be awed, and remembering your friends.
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This book tells of the exciting adventures of an unusual duo; a tiny snail and a great, big grey-blue humpback whale. The tiny snail has always had the desire to see the world as 'the sea is deep and the world is wide!'. Then one night the snail meets a whale, who offers to let him sail on his tail.
They travel to 'towering icebergs and far-off lands, with fiery mountains and golden sands' but only then does the tiny snail realise how small he is in comparison with their new surroundings.
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They travel to 'towering icebergs and far-off lands, with fiery mountains and golden sands' but only then does the tiny snail realise how small he is in comparison with their new surroundings.
...more
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
This book is about a small snail with big plans to travel the world. However, the snail has no one who wants to travel with him. The snail then meets a whale who invites him to sail on his tail. Together they visit volcanoes, icebergs and the jungle.
The snail starts to feel small in comparison to the world around him. Yet when his friend the whale becomes beached on a bay he is the one who comes to the rescue to save ...more
This book is about a small snail with big plans to travel the world. However, the snail has no one who wants to travel with him. The snail then meets a whale who invites him to sail on his tail. Together they visit volcanoes, icebergs and the jungle.
The snail starts to feel small in comparison to the world around him. Yet when his friend the whale becomes beached on a bay he is the one who comes to the rescue to save ...more
I liked many things about this engaging story about a little snail who longs to see the world, and the kindly whale who agrees to give her a ride on its tail. At first, the story is one of awe and discovery and friendship. But, seeing so many amazing things in the big, wide world, the snail feels so very small... Then, it becomes an environmental cautionary tale as the whale is upset by speed boaters and ends up beached. The little snail has a chance to do something BIG and save her friend. ...more
I really enjoyed this book. It is a simple children's book with great illustrations and a cute story to match. The illustrations and words match each other well. There is one full page of picture and then on the other page there is another illustration with words incorporated with the picture. The story is about a snail who wants to see other parts of the world, so he writes on a rock that he needs a ride. A whale sees the message and comes to pick up the snail. They visit many places across the...more
This book is about importance of teamwork. By using large illustrations and rhymes a story is very clearly laid out where a snail wants to see the world. Snail hitches a lift with a whale and they go all over the world seeing icebergs and jungles with volcanoes. Then the whale gets beached and to save him the Snail writes on a blackboard using his slime and gets everyone to help whale. They go back to the docks where Snail tells all his friends of his wonderful adventure and the story ends with ...more
"The Snail and the Whale" tells the story of a tiny snail who dreams of seeing the world. One day the snail hitches a ride on the tail of a huge whale. He takes him on an adventure through "towering icebergs and far-off lands" to "caves beneath the waves" and "fiery mountains and golden sands". During their adventure, however, the whale loses his way and the snail comes to his rescue by getting all of the local people to save him.
The illustration...more
The illustration...more
I loved this book! I thought it was clever and cute, educational and entertaining. I checked it out for our ocean day in preschool and the kids loved it too. It's a great story about not being too big or too small to do great things and be a good friend. I plan to own this one.
Funny side bit: I was reading it to my kids at bedtime and they were seeming to really enjoy it. My oldest daughter was so excited to see little characters do big things, and then we got to the last page. I end ...more
Funny side bit: I was reading it to my kids at bedtime and they were seeming to really enjoy it. My oldest daughter was so excited to see little characters do big things, and then we got to the last page. I end ...more
I love the idea of this book: the little snail, living on a rock with lots of other snails, yearns to cross the ocean and have adventures, but has no means to do so. Along comes a friendly whale and the snail catches a ride on his tail. How they marvel at what the vast world offers, and how the little snail, in the end, saves the life of his much larger friend, makes a satisfying story. I could relate to the little snail, wishing to experience the wonders of this big world. When the pair of frie...more
I think that the illustrations really help to tell the story of this book. In the beginning with the snail wanted to go out to the ocean, but is warned against it by the other snails, the picture shows a fish swimming in the ocean with a scared look on his face and a bird flying in the air with a fish in his mouth. In the end of the book when the snail comes back to where he came from, the fish in the sea appears to be happy and the bird flying overhead does not have a fish in his mouth. The ...more
Had to add one of my favorite children's book reads :) Not sure who gave this to us but somehow it ended up on our bookshelf after a summer of travel. This book literally makes me cry -- it teaches a really valuable lesson about how a small, insignificant snail can make a huge difference.
Written in rhyming poetry, the alliteration is amazing and the tale is beautifully illustrated. Catches your attention from the opening paragraph (that I have memorized by heart):
"This i...more
Written in rhyming poetry, the alliteration is amazing and the tale is beautifully illustrated. Catches your attention from the opening paragraph (that I have memorized by heart):
"This i...more
grades K-4
transitional/fluent
shared reading/read aloud
animal tale
friendship
alliteration,onomatopoeia,assonance,rhyme,rhythm,repetition,verbs,
adjectives,emotional intensity, colorful illustrations
fantastic book for reviewing literary elements or word solving
it's loaded humorous & fun
snail wants to travel the world and hitches a ride on a humpback whale
the whale gets beached and the snail gets the community to help rescue him.
transitional/fluent
shared reading/read aloud
animal tale
friendship
alliteration,onomatopoeia,assonance,rhyme,rhythm,repetition,verbs,
adjectives,emotional intensity, colorful illustrations
fantastic book for reviewing literary elements or word solving
it's loaded humorous & fun
snail wants to travel the world and hitches a ride on a humpback whale
the whale gets beached and the snail gets the community to help rescue him.
The Snail and the Whale is a beautifully illustrated book, with tongue twisting rhyme and strong themes. The snail wants to explore the world and does so by making an unlikely alliance with a humpback whale. After exploring far away and vast lands, the snail concludes that he feels very small indeed. The snail symolizes young children who are curious about their world, and how they can feel insignificant in the world. However, the smallest creature can make a difference, as in the story the smal...more
This is the delightful tale told in verse of a little sea snail that wants to see the world and the humpback whale that provides for him a ride on his tail. After seeing many amazing sights the climax comes as the humpback swims a little too close to shore and finds himself beached. I won't give away the ending, but this is definitely a heart warming, whimsical summer bed time read.
chbyoungreaders Changing Hands Bookstore Kids Team
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Shelves:
picture-book
Tag along with the tiny snail on an adventure around the world with her friend the humpback whale! Experience the world from the ocean bottom to island volcanoes and learn that even the very small can help in very big ways. This amazing story has everything you look for in a great children’s book: 1) Beautiful illustrations, 2) Lovable characters, 3) A valuable lesson.
Looking for adventure, a snail hitches a ride on a humpback whale and then rescues his new friend from being stuck on a sandy beach.
Lower Grades (LG K-3)
Fiction
Topic - Subtopic: Animals-Snails/Slugs; Animals-Whales; Natural Environments-Oceans; Natural Environments-Seashore/Beaches/Coast; Poetry/Rhymes-Poetry/Rhymes;
Lower Grades (LG K-3)
Fiction
Topic - Subtopic: Animals-Snails/Slugs; Animals-Whales; Natural Environments-Oceans; Natural Environments-Seashore/Beaches/Coast; Poetry/Rhymes-Poetry/Rhymes;
This is a story about an unlikely combination of friends. A snail and a whale. The snail desperately wants to journey the world to see what it has to offer. The snail and the whale journey to many different places, seeing many different things. The tiny snail ends up saving the whales life. A great book for really young children.
This is a great book to teach concepts of big and small to early readers. This book also teaches students a lesson in animal rights and humanity. This book also contains rhyming words that teachers can use for emergent readers. This is a great book that I plan to use in my classroom.
This is such a cute book! I would use this book to teach students about acceptence. I would also emphasize how you are never too big ortoo small to be a hero and help someone out. This story is such a good example of what that means and looks like.
We gave this book to our whale loving 2 year old for Easter. It is a pleasure to read--especially considering he normally picks and sleeps with non-fiction books about sea life. I like the rhyme when I am sometimes lulling myself to sleep as well.
This author/illustrator team is pure magic. The verse in this one isn't quite as fun as Gruffalo, IMHO, but the story is very cute and I think my son enjoyed it.
Yet another picture book about how the smallest of us can save the day, and how we shouldn't discount the efforts of those who we may think are too small.
I liked the illustrations and the story. If you help someone you make friends. It doesn't matter how small you are. You can still help.
We like this book that we got in Ireland. Cole likes the lightening and the snails, especially. Hesees a cow in the water....
This was a wonderful tale written completely in rhyme. The story reminds me of the tale of the Lion and The Mouse.
A fun kids book with a great rhythm to the read. A regular bedtime favorite in our house. Great for boys and girls.
I can't read this book without getting the shivers and feeling like I can conquer the world. Read it to your children!
Another lovely book from Julia Donaldson about a snail and whale who help each other on their journey.
We read this one every night. Not sure whether Seb is factoring in how long it takes to read it!
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Growing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramoph...more
More about Julia Donaldson...
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramoph...more
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