The Snail and the Whale
by Julia Donaldson · first published 2001
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Rhyming picture book by Julia Donaldson, written to be read aloud again and again. It is a family favourite, especially with children around ages four and five.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Wanting to sail beyond its rock, a tiny snail hitches a ride on a big humpback whale and then is able to help the whale when it gets stuck in the sand.
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This is very true. I have the same response to many (but not all) Julia Donaldson books. I could happily read the Snail and the Whale every night to my kids. My son loved them all, but for some reason my daughter never took to them and it's always made me a bit sad that I don't get to read them to her.
on “Eric Carle has died” ↗Love the shout-out to "The Snail and the Whale"--it's one of our family's favorite books! (As is anything else by Julia Donaldson.)
on “Harnessing chaos in Cloudflare offices” ↗…it.: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204810909-i-wonder-where... The books from Julia Donaldsson are classics. I am partial to Gozzle: Gozzle https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gozzle-Julia-Donaldson/dp/152907641... The snail and the whale: https://www.amazon.com/Snail-Whale-Julia-Donaldson/dp/150983... My kid had a loooong "The hospital dog" phase: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hospital-Dog-Julia-Donaldson/dp/150... I skipped some of the…
on “AI children's books, body horror edition” ↗…are better at the creative side than the education side but they're still pretty good at both. The work of Julia Donaldson stands out as a leader in the field. She's responsible for the Gruffalo, The Snail and the Whale, Tiddler, and loads more. She's also got a series called Songbirds that are far more basic in their prose, but designed for early reading education. It's in those books that you'll see more method to…
on “Ask HN: Any Creative AI Uses That Work with Kids?” ↗Glad it's on the roadmap! > My son is 4 and his favorites right now is the dory fantasmagory series. Some others he loves are big blue truck, snail and the whale (great book and all their books are amazing), gruffalo, mixed up chameleon, the tiger who came to tea, good day good night, Lion Inside (all their books are good), here we are (ditto for his books), the…
on “Show HN: Shepherd.com – Discover books in a new way, like wandering a bookstore” ↗…and find good kids books. I still get a fair number of duds there that we give away. My son is 4 and his favorites right now is the dory fantasmagory series. Some others he loves are big blue truck, snail and the whale (great book and all their books are amazing), gruffalo, mixed up chameleon, the tiger who came to tea, good day good night, Lion Inside (all their books are good), here we are (ditto for his books), the…
on “Show HN: Shepherd.com – Discover books in a new way, like wandering a bookstore” ↗They hitch a ride on a whale’s tail of course. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snail_and_the_Whale (Of course I’m just kidding but it’s a great book)
on “Snails Cross Vast Oceans” ↗…great kid/parent shows: - Hilda on Netflix - more appropriate for 9+ year olds but my 5 year old loves it. Has some genuinely scary moments though especially the later seasons - The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Snail and the Whale, etc - based on the books - Avatar the Last Airbender - for older kids but has one of the best character arcs
on “‘Bluey’s World’: How a Cute Aussie Puppy Became a Juggernaut” ↗…it to him without looking at the book. His latest books he just loves to have read to him over and over are "The Gruffalo" and several of the author's other books (Gruffalo's Child, Room on the Broom, Snail and the Whale, etc). He also loves to watch the animated shorts on Hulu/netflix (no Snail on the Whale though, just the others).
on “Why reading a book 100 times is a great idea” ↗