The Snail and the Whale


The Snail and the Whale is a 2003 children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It won the 2004 Early Years award for the best pre-school book, the 2005 Blue Peter award for Best Book to Read Aloud, and the 2007 Giverny award for Best Science Picture Book. The Snail and the Whale has also been adapted into an audiobook, a stage play and translated into British Sign Language.
Donaldson has said that it is one of her favourite books, due to its similarity in rhyming style to the works of Edward Lear, of which she was fond of as a child.

Plot

A tiny female sea snail lives alone with a snail flock, on a partially submerged rock by the docks, and longs to see the big, wide world. After she writes an advert for a "lift wanted around the world" using her trail, a kind humpback whale arrives one moonlit night and offers to take her travelling around the world. The aquatic duo see many sights along their way until one sunny summer morning, the whale, confused by the sound of a group of racing speedboats, swims into a bay and is left beached by the retreating tide.
In an effort to help her aquatic friend, the sea snail crawls to a nearby school in the bay, and asks for help by writing "Save The Whale" in her slimy trail on the blackboard. The school's children immediately fetch the emergency services, and the local people and the fire department help to keep the abandoned whale wet until the tide turns, and the snail and the whale themselves are able to refloat and swim safely away from the villagers.
Together, the sea snail and her friend, the whale return to the snail's home in the dock, where the other members in the snail flock are impressed by the two travellers' tales. The kind humpback whale holds out his tail, allowing the other sea snails to crawl on board. Then, as the sun sinks behind the surface of the ocean, the kind humpback whale takes the entire snail flock away to travel around the world. As the humpback whale swims on the surface of the seawater, all nine snails hanging on his tail sing out loud to the open sea.

Recognition

The book won the Early Years award for the best pre-school book in 2004, the Blue Peter award for Best Book to Read Aloud, 2005, and the Giverny award for Best Science Picture Book 2007.
The audio book won the 2004 Spoken Book gold award for best audio for ages six and under.

Adaptations and editions

The story is available as a paperback, a board book, a jigsaw puzzle book, a colouring book, an activity and sticker book, an audiobook with an accompanying audio CD, a magnetic book and a "Read Along" book with an accompanying magnetic audio tape.
The audiobook with an accompanying audio cassette, is narrated by English voice actor Imelda Staunton, while the audiobook with an accompanying compact disc is narrated by Scottish voice actor David Tennant.
The Snail and the Whale was adapted for the stage by the theatre company Tall Stories in 2012, and has been on tour around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.
On 6 November 2018, it was announced that BBC One and Magic Light Pictures would bring audiences The Snail and the Whale for Christmas 2019. The music is supplied by French composer and musician Rene Aubry, and the animation was provided by Triggerfish Animation Studios. The 26-minute production aired on BBC One at 2:30 pm on 25 December 2019, and again at 2:05 pm on 1 January 2020. It was released on DVD on 10 February 2020 in the United Kingdom.

Voice Cast

The Times called it: 'Bold and brilliant, wise and wacky'. The Guardian said it was 'a joy to read aloud', and included it a list of best children's books for ages 2 to 4.