Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French

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Funny, Witty, Informative

Good but nor Deep

Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French

Hysterical and true (not)

Spot on

Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French
Stephen Clarke
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Etiquette | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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In the Merde for Love

A Year in the Merde

Merde Actually

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong

ASIN: 1596913096
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Book Description

Have you ever walked into a half-empty Parisian restaurant, only to be told that it’s “complet”? Attempted to say “merci beaucoup” and accidentally complimented someone’s physique? Been overlooked at the boulangerie due to your adherence to the bizarre foreign custom of waiting in line? Well, you’re not alone. The internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love has been there too, and he is here to help. In Talk to the Snail, Stephen Clarke distills the fruits of years spent in the French trenches into a truly handy (and hilarious) book of advice. Read this book, and find out how to get good service from the grumpiest waiter; be exquisitely polite and brutally rude at the same time; and employ the language of l’amour and le sexe. Everything you need is here in this funny, informative, and seriously useful guide to getting what you really want from the French.

Customer Reviews:

Funny, Witty, Informative.......2007-09-27

Stephen Clarke has such an incredible sense of humor! After devouring A Year in the Merde and Merde Actually, I could not resist reading Talk to the Snail. This book is by far the weakest one but once again, it made me laugh and taught me a few interesting and useful things about the French.

Apparently, even some French find Clarke's novels amusing. I asked my French tutor whether she has heard about this trilogy. To my surprise, she immediately smiled and said that A Year in the Merde is hilarious.

Good but nor Deep.......2007-09-22

It's the fourth or fifth book I read about France viewed from the eyes of an Anglo-Saxon (American, British, Canadian, Australian).
Up to this point, it has been the most disappointing one. The beginnign looked good but I quickly realized that all described was, while true, very superficial. The biggest point being that this books describes pretty well Parisians but definitely not the rest of the population. To sum it up, even if the author claims having lived 12 years in France, he definitely has missed to get into the skin of the "locals". It's too bad because his style is pretty good.
Compared to superb books like "Almost French" or "60 Millions French can't be wrong", this one doesn't fare very well. I still have to read "A Year in the Merde" and want to go through it.
Paul

Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French .......2007-09-16

The book is a great fun for me because I know the habits of the French people. Great work of Stephen Clarke!!

Hysterical and true (not).......2007-09-08

This funny book gets you in the mood to be in the company of the French

Spot on.......2007-07-08

I have loved Stephen Clarke's novels but this humorous take on the French, all things French, and especially all things NOT British is a classic.

I spend a lot of time in Paris, and his observations are absolutely spot on. While he primarily writes about how the French see English speakers (i.e. the British, not necessarily Americans) his observations apply to both.

If you have never visited France, some of what he writes might seem rude. It is about as accurate in observation as I have read anywhere, however. Hurrah to Stephen Clarke! More! More!

Average customer rating:

An incredible children's book.
Even my husband grows quiet when I read it...
Fabulous
My two year old son's favorite book!!!
Good story to read to a child.

The Snail and the Whale
Julia Donaldson
Manufacturer: Dial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0803729227

Book Description

When a tiny snail meets a humpback whale, the two travel together to far-off lands. ItÂ's a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too close to shore, will the snail be able to save her new friend?

From the creators of Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo comes this touching tale of adventure and friendship. With vibrant illustrations and rhymes that are both playful and lyrical, here is a story that shows us that even the smallest creatures can help others in a big way.

Customer Reviews:

An incredible children's book........2007-10-17

You will like this as much as your child. Our 21-month-old wants us to read the entire book, over and over.

Even my husband grows quiet when I read it..........2007-08-28

I picked this book up during a trip to Cape May, NJ and it quickly became my family's favorite. The cadence of the writing and the pictures gets my 3 year old's attention, and the underlying message is what gets mine. Even my husband grows quiet when I read it. The description of the fishes' "feathery fins" and sharks' "hideous toothy grins" is just perfect.

A great lesson to be learned, one small act of courage can change anyone's life and can always make a difference.

Fabulous.......2007-03-08

Another great rhyming book from Julia Donaldson. She does a great range of books and they appeal to adults and kids. They are so easy to read and it is a joy to follow the simple yet exciting stories. She is a gifted story teller and the illustrations are just intriguing.

My two year old son's favorite book!!!.......2007-02-07

My two and a half year old son loves this book! The illustraions are wonderful and he follows the story. It's one of the best books we have. Highly recommend!

Good story to read to a child........2007-01-25

A lengthier book to read to a child which has a good rhyme and story. Would prefer type size to be bigger and bolder.

The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher

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29 Brief Essays on Biology; Very Entertaining; Very Witty
The humane scientist Modern Montaigne with Microscope
Very Interesting
Why did I never have to read this in high school Biology?
Incredible depth in such a small book

The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher
Lewis Thomas
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0140243194

Customer Reviews:

29 Brief Essays on Biology; Very Entertaining; Very Witty.......2006-12-02

This is quite simply one of the best written books on biology that you'll ever read. If you are in the camp which believes that scientists use one side of their brain, and that writers use the other, be prepared for a big surprise. If you've read Bill Bryson, you may already realize that there are a gifted few who possess both talents. This is a collection of 29 very brief essays (they average only 6 pages each). Prepare to be thoroughly amazed by Dr. Lewis Thomas' descriptions of the most remarkable features of our natural world. The title story serves to illustrate his literary technique.

This essay is a mere four and a half pages. The protagonists are a sea slug and a jellyfish, which Dr. Thomas re-christens with artistic license. The lead sentence is "We've never been so self-conscious as we seem to be these days." Then follows some three pages about how lower animals (coral polyps, for example) have some, yet undiscovered method of discriminating between their own species (self) and others which may be extremely close. Then, as if to prove the general rule with a startling exception, Dr. Thomas shows how a particular medusa and snail in the Sea of Naples appear to be confused about their molecular configuration and fuse into a single organism. The jellyfish (medusa) is affixed to the mouth of the slug (snail), and when the slug produces larvae, one becomes entrapped in the tentacles of the tiny jellyfish. At first it looks like the parasite is the predator. But no. The slug larvae eats away at the jellyfish from the inside and as the jellyfish shrinks, the slug grows, until a new equilibrium is reached in adulthood. Lewis finishes by saying that this cycle is so bizarre, so thoroughly unexpected, and so confusing that "I cannot get my mind to stay still and think it through."

Now you have twenty-eight essays to go, and I assure you that your mind will not be able to stay still through any of them.

One of my favorites isn't about science at all, but about punctuation. Yes, literally, punctuation. In writing about the uses, and misuses, of parentheses, commas, semicolons, exclamation points, quote marks, and dashes, Dr. Thomas employs them in the relevant paragraph in such a way as to draw the readers' attention. Take for instance the comma:

"The commas are the most useful and usable of all the stops. It is highly important to put them in place as you go along. If you try to come back after doing a paragraph and stick them in the various spots that tempt you you will discover that they tend to swarm like minnows into all sorts of crevices whose existence you hadn't realized and before you know it the whole long sentence becomes immobilized and lashes up squirming in commas. Better to use them sparingly, and with affection, precisely when the need for each one arises, nicely, by itself."

If Dr. Thomas carries a dominant theme throughout the book, it is that a liberal education is critically important, even for a very dedicated scientist.

The humane scientist Modern Montaigne with Microscope.......2006-09-17

Lewis Thomas' essays draw on his wide knowledge and experience as doctor and research scientist. They also draw on his humane perception , and Montaigne- like desire to think and inquire about all which is human. He can clarify the most complex issues in a few brief paragraphs. I have read much on the subject of human cloning but I do not believe I have read anything which analyzes the subject in such a clear and convincing way as Thomas in this following paragrah.

"Cloning is the most dismaying of prospects, mandating as it does the elimination of sex with only a metaphoric elimination of death as compensation. It is almost no comfort to know that one's cloned, identical surrogate lives on, especially when the living will very likely involve edging one's real, now aging self off to side, sooner or later. It is hard to imagine anything like filial affection or respect for a single, unmated nucleus: harder still to think of one's new, self- generated self anything, but an absolute, desolate orphan. Not to mentrion the complex interpersonal relationship involved in raising one's self from infancy , teaching the language, enforcing discipline, instilling good manners and the like. How would you feel if you became an incorrigible juvenile dilenquent at the age of fifty- five"

Aside from cloning Thomas writes in this collection about the symbiotic relation of medusa and snail, of the meaning of 'self' in relation to being outside, and other, about the heatlh- care system and its costs, about 'warts' about humanity as the worrying species, about the meaning of 'disease' The closing essay is a brief history of medical practice.
There are also two small but wonderful essays on Montaigne's way of thinking.
Thomas while deeply aware of humanity's capacity for grandiose error is a hope-filled and hope- giving writer. Here is the way he writes about the worrying animal, a passage which is a sample of his elegant etymologically informed prose.

"But security is the last thing we feel entitled to feel. We are, perhaps uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing gthe future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still. We deserve a better press, in my view. We have always had a strong hunch about our origin, which does us credit; from the oldest language we know, the Indo-European tongue, we took the word for earth- Dhghem- and turned it into 'humus' and 'human' ; 'humble' too which does us more credit ; We are by all odds the most persistently and obsessively social of all species, more dependent on each other than the famous social insects, and really when you look at us, infinitely more imaginative and deft at social living. We are good at this; it is the way we have built our cultures and the literature of our civilizations. We have high expectations and set high standards for our social behavior , and when we fail at it and endanger the species- as we have done several times in this century- the strongest words we can find to condemn ourselves are the telling words 'inhuman' and' inhumane'.
There is nothing at all absurd about the human condition. We matter. It seems to me a good guess, hazarded by a good many people who have thought about it, that we may be engaged in the formation of something like a mind for the life of this planet.If this is so we are still at the most primitive stage., still fumbling with language and thinking, but infinitely capacitated for the future. It is remarkable that we've come so far as we have in so short a period , really no time at all as geologists measure time. We are the newest, the youngest and the brightest thing around."

What a wonderful hope- giving human being wrote this book.

Very Interesting.......2006-05-04

Lewis Thomas takes a simple observation, like the report on pollution, and changes the reader's perception. In one of his essays, he chastises the reader on his or her selfishness with a fiery passion. Thomas convinces the reader of the ideas inferred with his scientific observations, the theme of this book being the major human fault: striving to reach perfection. The essays are short, abrupt but leave you to ponder your own interactions in life, nature.

Why did I never have to read this in high school Biology?.......2005-09-23

While I sat through boring lectures and starch staining labs, this book sat on a shelf somewhere waiting for me to read it. At that time, I believed all science not just biology were just boring fact-finding and number recording. Given this book earlier, I may have had a different life. A hobby that I enjoy now may have been a fulfilling career.

Lewis will show you that biology is about more than dissection and grainy movies from the early eighties. His essays touch on a wide variety of subjects. However, all contain a sense of wonder that is sadly lacking in our schools, at least when I was there. Read this if you would like to find or rekindle your love of science.

Incredible depth in such a small book.......2005-02-25

This collection of essays or thoughts or whatever it is classified as is wonderfully honest and simple. Thomas brings a certain wit and charm to some complex and taboo subjects such as dying, disease, warts, etc that allows you to totally disconnect and look at the big picture. For college folk out there the section on 'premeds' is especially funny.

Twelve Snails to One Lizard: A Tale of Mischief and Measurement

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Twelve Snails to One Lizard

Twelve Snails to One Lizard: A Tale of Mischief and Measurement
Susan Hightower
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0689804520

Customer Reviews:

Twelve Snails to One Lizard.......2000-06-18

This is a delightful book about the problems a beaver has measuring a log to repair the dam on his pond. His friend, Bubba Bullfrog, offers him many non-standard measurements that would be appropriate to use. All prove to be a pain for Milo, in more ways than one!Bubba realizes he has a yardstick at home to prove he's correct. What a great way to help children learn about equivalent measure! I recommend it highly.

Average customer rating:

Great pictures, great fable
Gorgeous Snails
The Biggest House in the World

The Biggest House in the World
Leo Lionni
Manufacturer: Dragonfly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0394827406
Release Date: 1973-08-12

Book Description

Illus. in full color. A young snail realizes that a big house might be a disaster for him.

Customer Reviews:

Great pictures, great fable.......2006-09-24

Two warnings: 1) the snail in the fable part of the story dies for lack of food, which could be a little too sad for very little kids; and 2) on one of the pages there is lots of text describing the pictures on the next page, and the next page has no text at all because the illustration takes up all the room. You have to memorize the last part of the text on the one page and then go ahead and turn the page and then recite it to your child-- it gets easier by the tenth or eleventh time. :)
In this book, the little snail tells his father he wants to have the biggest house in the world. The father tells his son that is silly, that he should keep easy to carry. The father says once a little snail grew a house as big as a melon, added pointed bulges and bright colors, and was admired by butterfiles and frogs. But he and the other snails ate up the cabbage on which they lived. The other snails moved to the next cabbage, but the snail with the big house was stuck, and "faded away." His house crumbled into nothing. The son decides to follow his father's advice and keep his house small. One day he goes on to see the world-- ferns, pebbles, lichen, trees, flowers-- and the little snail was very happy.
The moral could be not to weigh yourself down with big purchases or large debts-- like Dave Ramsey says. Or that you should be content with what you have. Or that possessions are temporary but experiences aren't.
It's a book I've loved for years, my kids love it now, the illustrations are beautiful, and the story makes a good fable.

Gorgeous Snails.......2001-07-14

What unique characters Lionni chooses! My boys loved the pastel colored illustrations of the snails and their "houses." We also get to see an example of oral tradition: the title fable is really a story within a story. When one little snail expresses his wish to build a really big house, an older snail tells him the story about the consequences of having such an enormity for a house. Later, much older, the little snail is asked why his house is so small, and he answers by telling the tale. Not terribly exciting, but enjoyable; and the illustrations are, as usual, gorgeous, especially that amazing and huge snail house.

The Biggest House in the World.......2000-06-06

This is another great story from Leo Lionni! In this book, a snail wishes that his house would be the biggest house in the world, but he finds out that there are consequences to having the biggest house. The moral of the story is "be careful what you wish for, it might come true." A great read!

Average customer rating:

Great book for the aquarist, diver and lovers of beauty
Beautiful Book.... but...
It`s a splendid treasure of colour!
A first rate reference.

Nudibranchs and Sea Snails
Helmut Debelius
Manufacturer: Hollywood Import & Export Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3931702987

Book Description

From the Red Sea to South Africa and across the West Coast of the Americas: This book is perfectly illustrated with over 1020 full color photos from the natural environment of the animals on 320 pages. The relation price/achievement is unbeatable!

Customer Reviews:

Great book for the aquarist, diver and lovers of beauty.......2005-05-19

A beautiful book containing over 1020 color photos
depicting gastropods from the West Coast of the US to the Red Sea to South Africa. Half of the book is devoted to gastropods with shells and half of the book concerned with those without shells(nudibranchs) all live and in their natural habitat. There is nothing so brightly colored as a nudibrarch and to see one "swim" is pure joy. A must have for divers, aquarists and those who love nature. Although there is some animals misidentified I find it still a good field guide and should be well received by anyone who appreciates beauty.

Beautiful Book.... but..........2003-08-02

Helmut Debelius and his associates filled this book with fantastic underwater photos of live mollusks, which makes viewing the photos almost like making your own extended, and very successful dive trip. However, as a field guide, it suffers from numerous inaccurate ID's, particularly among the shelled mollusks. While some of the animals are misidentified as similar animals, a dozen or so are glaringly incorrect. A lesser problem is that numerous photos had the slides reversed, making many of the shells appear sinistral, or left-handed, when they were in fact dextral shells (or else Helmut found an extremely rare group of previously unknown sinistral specimens, from a number of different genera).

As a coffee table book, this book is wonderful, but I wouldn't recommend paying this much money for a "field guide" if you plan to use it as an identification reference.

It`s a splendid treasure of colour!.......2001-04-02

I love this book not only for the enormous amount of more than 800 species of snails but also the colours that they have - in fact,I think these are the sea`s most beautifull animals. And I love having a field guide with them in these series,in which I also have some other books mostly with fishes. I thought it should cover only the shell-less snails but it doesn`t. The first half of the book covers the gastropods with a shell,where the cowries and triton shells are among my favourites. The later half covers the more colourfull nudibranchs with their recognizable gills. My favourites are the chromodoris,but also the other ones. And they have all kinds of colours and shapes you can imagine!You can sometimes almost not recognise them as animals from Earth. Well,this book covers them all,making it one of the best in my collection. It covers the area from Red Sea to Carlifornia and is the premiere reference work of it`s kind. A must-have for divers and naturalists.

A first rate reference........2001-03-29

This invaluable field guide depicts one of the most colorful and remarkable groups of of marine animals. There are over 1000 good quality photo's [ 2 or 3 to each page] of living subjects in their natural habitat all packed into 320 pages. Beside each photo is a text decribing the length, its distribution and general background information on the species. The first third of the book covers shells and the last two thirds nudis. This is an excellent book, the most comprehensive reference for nudibranchs I have seen published. Essential for any scuba diver interested in these beautiful creatures. The author has published six other books on the identification of marine life species around the world, they are all excellent.

Average customer rating:

Awesome!
Slugs Are Very Portable
Great book and kids love it!
This is a one of a kind classic for anyone who has an imagination!!
the love of slugs

Slugs
David Greenberg
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316326593

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-09-11

This was my favorite book as a kid. I'm getting it for mine now, too. It's funny and appeals to most children ages 5-10 or so, and teaches a lesson: Being unkind to animals, even so called "lowly" ones like slugs, is mean and eventually if you're a horrible person you'll get beaten up by mutant slugs while you sleep. Truth! Well.. At least I grew up knowing not to harm animals.

Slugs Are Very Portable.......2007-08-24

I had this book as a child, and I can still gleefully quote some of the slug-themed rhymes in this unique children's book. While some people may be turned off by the grossness of the subject matter ("slugs are very portable, just stick them in your nose"), it is refreshing to read a book that appeals to kid's own senses of humor. My father was a biologist, and for my brother and I, the animal world was very clearly not just filled with glamorous mammals, but also the very real and marvelous grossness of insects and animals who behaved in outrageous -and hilarious- ways. This book is not for the faint of heart, but is a delight for those who find humor in the messy aspects of animal and human life.

Great book and kids love it!.......2006-02-23

I have to respectfully disagree with the people who think that this book is not good for young children. I am a first grade teacher and I have read this book to the children in my classes year after year, and they love it. What one needs to do is use the book correctly. Like J.K. Rowling says, "...children are not given enough credit for what they can understand and talk about..." You just have to make a point to discuss the book with the child or children you are reading it to. Discuss the book with them before you read it, while you read it, and after you read it. This book is a great teaching tool for having a discussion on how to treat, and how not to treat animals. And, most important of all, since they kids love the book because it is gross and funny, they want are inpsired to read it on their own. So, as long as the children are properly guided, if this book helps the children to be inspired read, well then, to me it's a great book!

This is a one of a kind classic for anyone who has an imagination!! .......2005-10-11

I remember this book at my elementary school library. I'd ALWAYS look at it! It's unthinkable notions are so funny! Slugs are totally pointless. And anyone who's normal would probably agree. This book is extremely creative. You'd have to have a big imagination to think of slurpying slugs with straws or slugs in your pasta. I love the fun cartoonish pictures. Very easy to read for kid needing the practise. I believe this book would help children want to read more. Hey! Reading isn't boring it can be silly and fun! I can just imagin little boys loving this. I think it's idiotic how some people think this book is horrible. Come on! Slugs aren't creatures with feelings or brains and I doubt very much that any little kid would ever do anything that's in this book. This book inspires creativity! I would tell anyone to read it!

the love of slugs.......2005-08-23

this is a hilarious and silly book about slugs,great for any ages.I gave it to a 49 yr old who dislikes slugs but laughed all the way thru the book.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful, informative, fun to read
a great find...
An entertaining Science Book
First Steps Into the World of Science
First Steps Into the World of Science

Are you a Snail? (Backyard Books)
Judy Allen
Manufacturer: Kingfisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Biology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0753456044

Book Description

A young snail faces many challenges as it tries to grow safely into an adult. All the facts a young child needs to understand the life of this intriguing backyard creature are packed into this engaging narrative.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful, informative, fun to read.......2005-08-29

I love reading books to my children, but I find that really great books are not always that easy to come by. By a really great book I mean something beautifully illustrated, easy and enjoyable for me to read out loud, and an interesting, educational subject. Of course my children (They are 4 and 6 and a half years old now, but I've been reading these books to them for over a year.) must enjoy the book too, otherwise I'll be reading my beautiful book to myself! I think in this backyard book series I have found all the aspects of a great children's book. The story is cute. It takes about the right amount of time to read aloud. It's educational in a very real way. (There are snails all over my garden for my children to see, and touch.) Now they know all about how snails live and what they really are. I'm looking forward to buying, and reading, more books in the series.

a great find..........2002-06-12

My 2 year old was going through a fear of insects (and snails) phase and this book helped tremendously. Not only did it educate her on the life cycle of the snail, but it did so without talking down to her. I read it to her 7 times when we first got it and right away her attitude toward snails changed. Now, she is quite happy to go visit them as they munch away on our garden vegetables...

An entertaining Science Book.......2001-10-21

My Kindergarten class (5-6 yr.olds) loved this book! It's an imaginative way of approaching facts about snails, and the illustrations are beautiful.

First Steps Into the World of Science.......2000-05-18

A beautifully illustrated picture book with just enough text to intrigue the preschooler or introduce the grade schooler to the world of a snail. As an elementary school teacher I recommend this book for use during investigations of animal families or as a motivational tool for writing. The delightful text describes basic anatomy, habitat and predators. Contains an interesting facts page. Great for pre-kindergarten thru 3rd grades.

First Steps Into the World of Science.......2000-05-18

A beautifully illustrated picture book with just enough text to intrigue the preschooler or introduce the grade schooler to the world of a snail. As an elementary school teacher I recommend this book for an introduction to scientific studies of animal families as well as a motivational tool for writing lessons. Great for pre-kindergarten thru 3rd grades.

The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant)

Average customer rating:

Beautiful book
GREAT; funny, witty & inspiring book for both children & adults!
The True Meaning of Friendship
A Wonderful Book for Young Children - MUST Read Aloud!
a great book

The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant)
Avi , and Tricia Tusa
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0152049681

Book Description

Avon the snail has never had an adventure. And adventure, he has heard, is the key to a happy life. So with his new friend Edward the ant, Avon sets out on a journey to find the excitement his life has been missing.

The travelers meet all manner of wise, weird, and intriguing creatures--including a dragon!--and it's not long before their adventures begin.

In the tradition of such classics as The Little Prince, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Winnie-the-Pooh, this completely original story--a modern fable for our time--brims with wit, wisdom, and profound insights about the meaning of things . . . great and small.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful book.......2007-01-18

This story of the li'l snail is heart-warming - and the illustrations bring the magic to life. I'd highly recommend purchasing this - whether it be for a young child...or for someone simply young at heart. :)

GREAT; funny, witty & inspiring book for both children & adults!.......2006-10-05

Avon the snail has never experienced an adventure and he believes adventure is the secret to happiness. After meeting a new friend, Edward the ant, the two set out on a journey to find what they've been missing in life. In the end, they find out they didn't have to travel very far to find the excitment they thought they were missing. Along the way they meet many interesting & wise creatures that teach them things, for example "it's better to look for nothing and find something than to look for something & find nothing". GREAT;funny,witty & inspiring book for both children & adults! One of my new favorites; will be a classic someday!

The True Meaning of Friendship.......2006-05-10

The End of the Beginning is a book about a friendship. When Avon the snail is sad because he's never been on an adventure, an ant named Edward decides he'll go with him. They've never been on another branch of the tree they live in so they decide to go and explore and see what kind of creatures also live there. The two set off not knowing what to expect, but just having each other's company. On their way, they run into all sorts of different animals who may need help with something, or just want someone to talk to. They learn about the different animals that live in the tree too and become friends with them. Along the way, Avon and Edward are becoming the best of friends, but they only fight over one thing; if it's the beginning or the end. When they reach the end of their branch they fight over if it's the beginning of the sky or the end of the branch. Edward also says quotes about life that you can relate to. I liked it because I think it's a cute story, for any readers. Also I liked that it teaches the true meaning and lessons learned of a friendship. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a cute story with a happy ending!

A Wonderful Book for Young Children - MUST Read Aloud!.......2006-01-26

My children and I thoroughly enjoyed Avon and Edward. We read it together one evening in a fairly short time. Reading it aloud gives the reader (Mom in this case) the opportunity to use different voices to help bring the personalities to life. My kids loved it so much (ages 7 and 8) that we had to read it to Dad the next night! Even 42-year-old Dad had to chuckle at some of the silliness of Avon and Edward!

It was so much fun, in fact, that my 7 year-old set out to read the entire chapter book herself. Since we brought it back to the library its like we're missing an old friend. We will buy a copy to keep on our shelf for future re-reading.

a great book.......2005-11-03

I"m seven and I think that this book should be read from second to fifth grade. I thought this book was great because they (Avon and Edward) talked themselves into things that are not really true and in that way it"s really funny. They go on an adventure and think it"s the beginning but it"s really the end.

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The Snail's Spell (Picture Puffins)
Joanne Ryder
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140508910

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