Snail and Worm: Three Stories About Two Friends

Author-illustrator Tina Kügler lives in the Los Angeles area with her artist husband and three sons. When she is not making picture books, she can be found trying to befriend snails and worms in her backyard.
www.tinakugler.squarespace.com
Twitter: @tinatheatre
Instagram: @kuglertina

Combining deceptively simple art with clever wordplay, Snail and Worm—told in three comical, episodic shorts and ranging in topic from adventuring to having pets—will have both girls and boys delighting in the friends' silly antics, making it a perfect book for readers transitioning between picture books and chapter books.

PreS-Gr 1—A friend is good to have, but a best friend is even better. Snail and Worm are best buds in the tradition of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad or Mo Willems's Elephant and Piggie. The pair have three silly adventures that are sure to please any young reader. Worm goes along with Snail's antics as they play tag with a rock named Bob and Ann the stick. When Snail is determined to climb a flower, Worm is there to cheer him on every step of the way. In the final story, Worm has lost his pet and describes what it looks like to his friend. Snail is positive that Worm's lost pet is a spider. The ending is humorous to all readers. This is a good choice for children not yet ready for early chapter books. The text is not too difficult, nor is it overwhelming. The speech for each character is written in different colors to make it easier to distinguish who is talking. Some of the humor may need to be explained to younger children, but it also makes this book enjoyable. The acrylic illustrations are simple, straightforward, and uncluttered. The characters have great expressions and are animated. VERDICT This appealing easy reader is a must-have for most collections.—Barbara Spiri, Southborough Library, MA

"Snail and Worm’s direct, simplified dialogue is perfect for beginning readers, and their unabashed dopiness—equally evident in their conversations and in Kügler’s mixed-media cartoons—delivers a steady stream of laughs. " —Publishers Weekly   "Ku¨gler’s cartoonish creatures, rendered simply in thin lines and soft colors, each have comically googly eyes and cheery expressions, which add plenty of fun visual punchlines and context clues to the short, direct sentences making up the easy-to-read text...The heartening message about accepting a friend’s quirks is a cozy bonus." —Booklist —