Snailish Summer Reads

July 23, 2021 By Maria

Are you feeling sluggish, or should I say snailish, in the summer heat? I, for one, have been feeling the lethargy of heat and humidity and the slower, more open schedule of the summer. What I really want to do is bury myself in a book and curl up, preferably in a place that isn’t too warm or too frigidly air-conditioned. My eight-year-old has been living my dream this week. The kid has read through six or more books since the weekend. Hopefully, our bookshelves and library orders can keep up with his voracious reading appetite. Back to the sluggishness or rather snailishness. . .it is the feeling that inspired this post. Yes, I am writing all about snail picture books, and I will start with our favorite one.

We discovered our favorite snail storybook when browsing the library shelves one day. It is called Escargot, written by Dashka Slater and illustrated by Sydney Hanson. When I pulled up the Amazon link for Escargot, I discovered there is a second Escargot book! It’s already on our library hold list. My kids really enjoy interactive books, and they love Escargot! Escargot, the French snail, talks and interacts with the reader in a short story about confidence, self-worth, and trying new foods. My kids love to munch on carrots now. . .maybe it’s related? This book is entertaining to read out loud. (I attempt a French accent when reading it to my kids, which pulls them into the experience even more and gives my husband a laugh if he is in the room. My small percentage of French ancestry does come out in other ways, too, not just silliness.) My daughter recently drew a colorful snail and included his “shimmery trail,” which is “not slime,” as Escargot says. The book displays colorful illustrations and the cutest little large-eyed and well-dressed snail.

Next on my list is The Snail and the Whale by the famed Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of some of Donaldson’s most famous books including The Gruffalo. As usual Donaldson’s rhymes remain enchanting! This story lets those still stuck at home this summer travel about the world on the tail of a whale. In this book an adventurous young snail with an “itchy foot” sails the seas with her whale friend. When the whale runs into dangerous trouble, the small snail saves the day. The little snail not only goes on an adventure of her own but also inspires her snail community to seek more out of life than staying put on a rock, “black as soot.” We enjoyed visiting beaches and coral reefs from our couch with the snail and the whale. This might be a work of fiction, yet readers learn a bit about marine life rescue while enjoying the rhymes and illustrations. 

My last couple snail tales are non-fiction picture books. If you enjoy graphic novels and word bubbles, Snails Are Just My Speed! by Kevin McCloskey will be just your speed. This fun and engaging non-fiction text about snails performs well as a read-aloud and is a Toon Book that works perfectly for younger readers improving their proficiency. It contains lots of pictures and funny illustrations which give a laugh with the lesson. I actually learned a lot about snails by reading this book with my kids. In addition to learning through silliness, we love the Backyard Books series. We have read, enjoyed, and learned with most of the books in this series, though a few have still escaped us. Are You a Snail? written by Judy Allen and illustrated by Tudor Humphries, conveys just the right blend of information and engagement, and as usual, the illustrations of Tudor Humphries do not disappoint. This book contains additional information at the end, which adds to the reading experience. The extra facts are great for an older child who wants to learn more, but they can also be skipped when reading to a younger child if need be. Sharing and learning together can still be enjoyable. The interesting illustrations throughout the book offer opportunities for discussion, reasoning, and the beginnings of scientific questioning.  

Hopefully, everyone finds something interesting in this shimmery trail of shimmery, non-slimy snail books. Or, as Escargot wishes, maybe you will find a new favorite animal of your own, “perhaps the snail”? After reading these books, my kids noticed dried-up trails from snails, or maybe slugs, on the sidewalk around our house. We haven’t found any actual snails in our yards yet, but we did uncover a few slugs. It has been fun taking the learning experience from our books to the outdoors. These books work well together for a short study on snails. You can just add in your choices from crafts, experiments, coloring pages, worksheets, maybe charts like this snail anatomy one, and some outdoor nature studies. While writing this post, I also found this excellent snail lesson put together by Dawn Gunn on the BetterLesson website. In your own snail studies, maybe you’ll even take it as far as the parents of the sweet little snail in #7 from this Bored Panda article. You don’t have to force it; the learning will happen with fun and engagement. So, feeling snailish or not, keep making your shimmery trail of picture book reads this summer!