Snails Are Just My Speed! (Giggle and Learn)
by Kevin McCloskey (Author)
What’s the scoop behind all the mucus?
Did you know snails build roads like engineers and go undercover in camouflage like top secret spies? Did you know they can be smaller than a seed or bigger than a grown-up’s hand?
Cartoonist Kevin McCloskey is back with his trademark mixture of real-life science, lovely art, and infectious hilarity for the slimiest book in his acclaimed Giggle and Learn series, praised by the New York Times as “a winning combination of facts and gross-out fun.”
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School Library Journal
K-Gr 1--With hip and fun graphics, just enough "ick" factor, and plenty of facts, this title offers beginning readers a great deal of information about snails and slugs. McCloskey opens with a familiar idea--snails are slow--but springboards from that to unexpected tidbits such as how fast or slow snails move compared to other animals, why a lack of speed can be an advantage, and lots and lots about mucus. The author/illustrator quickly touches upon reproduction ("Snails shoot arrows at each other before they make babies") and even finds space to look at the creatures as favorites in the drawing habits of monks of old--a segue into a spread devoted to how to draw a snail. VERDICT What a delight! Kindergartners will need some help with this one but will enjoy it, while first graders will savor the grossness on their own.--Henrietta Verma, Credo Reference, Jackson Heights, NY
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
The fourth title in McCloskey's Giggle and Learn series of leveled reader comics celebrates the notoriously poky mollusk. In distinctively quirky graphics, McCloskey shows snails ambling along on mucus trails and handily communicating via dialogue balloons. Three children learn about snails with readers, expressing enthusiasm and occasional revulsion in response. "Snails make a lot of mucus. With mucus, they can travel on any surface," McCloskey writes. A chestnut-colored snail flagrantly demonstrates this point: "I can climb over a knife and not get hurt!" Readers will also learn that "every snail is both male and female" and "a snail's eyes are weak, but it uses its lower tentacles to feel and smell." McCloskey's series continues to deliver an offbeat blend of science, humor, and a dynamic interplay between words and pictures. Ages 4-8. (May)
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Finalist for Pop Culture Classroom 2019 Excellence In Graphic Literature Award, Best in Children's Graphic Literature (Nonfiction)!
The BUILDING STEAM WITH DIA 2019 Booklist (ALSC), K-Grade 2
Association for Library Service to Children GRAPHIC NOVELS READING LIST (Grades K-2) 2019
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection ★ "With hip and fun graphics, just enough 'ick' factor, and plenty of facts, this title offers beginning readers a great deal of information about snails and slugs...What a delight!" —School Library Journal STARRED REVIEW
"McCloskey's series continues to deliver an offbeat blend of science, humor, and a dynamic interplay between words and pictures."—Publishers Weekly "Savvy educators will appreciate the book's versatility: It would be the star of an intimate gross-book-themed storytime...or may be used as the inspiration for a pre-K lesson plan on anything from wildlife and nature to gardening to body fluids. Overall, a fun read and a smart selection for any elementary nature shelf."—Kirkus Reviews
"As slugs with shells, snails perhaps lack charm. One look at McCloskey's affectionate portrayal quickly changes minds...This will be a particular joy for the science-minded, but between spotting the snails hidden among rocks and taking a cue from the drawing lesson in back, there's plenty of fun here for casual readers, too."—Booklist "Fascinating...facts are shared about how snails move (slowly); the variety of snail species, sizes, and habitats; and even snail courtship rituals."—Horn Book Magazine "In this fourth installment of TOON Books' early reader science series, Kevin McCloskey once again creates an engaging work of nonfiction that will have kids screaming, 'Gross!' and, like the series title says, 'Laugh and Learn."—School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids "I never expected to be interested in snails (and their cousin slugs) but McCloskey makes any animal interesting. His books are light reads that inspire learning."—Comics Worth Reading
"There's a quick drawing lesson at the end - great way to end a storytime or science group session! Kevin McCloskey is aces in my book!"—Mom Read It
"Kevin McCloskey introduces us to a whole load of fascinating snail facts that are sure to entertain curious readers, no matter how old they are."—Orbital Comics "By the time you turn the last page of Snails are Just My Speed!, you'll be reminding yourself that this book is a beginning reader."—Books4YourKids
JNF003120 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Insects, Spiders, etc.
JNF045000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Readers | Beginner
JNF062030 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Science & Nature
Comics (Graphic works)
Snails
Instructional and educational works
