Take me away..... (The Snail and the Whale - Julia Donaldson)

Name: nickwock

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Product:	The Snail and the Whale - Julia Donaldson
Date:	20/06/08 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delightful story, rhyming text, lovely pictures

Disadvantages: Maybe a bit repetative

As say the opening lines of this wonderful book: This is the tale of a tiny snail. And a great big, grey-blue humpback whale......

I think most people are aware of the Gruffalo, especially those with children, but for those who need a little introduction, The Gruffalo is the book which shot Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler to fame back in March 1999. Julia's beautiful, flowing words were accompanied by Axels stunning, colourful and exciting illustrations. After reading The Gruffalo (a few million times, I can recite it word for word) I didn't honestly believe I would find my son a book that would captivate him as much. Since then we have read the Gruffalo's Child and Monkey Puzzle. Both of which are wonderful, but, for me, The Snail & The Whale has clinched it.

In this story, a brave little snail, very aware of his smallness, embarks on an adventure with a friendly, gentle whale. With each page you visit scary, beautiful, cold & sunny far off lands, until one day, the unthinkable happens, and the little snail must overcome his insecurities to help his friend.

Julia writes with a lovely rhyming verse, it amazes me how she manages such descriptive story telling whilst keeping the story in order. There is always a little kind of 'twist' with her stories, some kind of moral to learn, this books being that size doesn't determine greatness and also to follow your dreams. Sounds deep for a childrens book doesn't it? (Remember, this an 'old romantic' adult viewpoint!). But believe me, your child will be enthralled by the rhyming and repetative text and will want it to be read night after night.

The pictures are gorgeous, our book is a fairly large paperback, wider than A4 but not quite as long. The front cover, as you can see from the picture above, shows the stars of the story in a very tropical setting. There are thirty pages, which sounds like a lot for a child, but each page has a large picture which clearly corresponds to the text. Amazingly, Julia & Axel work seperately, she lives in Glasgow, he in London. The pictures have so much detail and will keep children below reading age busy for quite a while and for children learning to read, the fun, rhyming style will keep the interest up. Also a lot of the words are used repeatedly, i.e. snail, small, tail, tiny, whale, which I have been told promotes good reading skills.

Here is a list of the books which Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffer have made together:

Tales from Acorn Wood, Postman Bear
Tales from Acorn Wood, Rabbits Nap
A Squash & a Squeeze,
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo Child
Room on the Broom
Charlie Cooks Favourite Book
The Smartest Giant in Town
Monkey Puzzle
Tiddler

I think it's worth pointing out that Julia & Axel have both created many books seperately too, details of which can be found on the websites listed below. I've yet to read any of these, but I have seen some of Julia's books are part of the Oxford Reading Tree, which is helpful when your child is learning to read.

I was very lucky, The Snail and the Whale was included in a pack I purchased from The Book People - 10 books for £10, so was extremely good value. The RRP on the back of the book is £5.99. We have noticed these books in WH Smiths, in a big jigsaw version and a copy with a CD included, but I'm not sure of the prices.

I would definitely recommend this book, or infact, any of the collection. A happy, healthy imagination & a love of good books is a wonderful thing to give a child, especially in the hard world we live in at the moment.

Some helpful web addresses:
www.juliadonaldson.co.uk
www.imagesofde light.com
www.whsmith. co.uk
www.thebookpeople.co.uk

Summary: Childrens book