Escargot and the Search for Spring

by Dashka Slater, Sydney Hanson (Illustrator)

Overview

A cute French snail sets off on a springtime adventure with an adorable bunny in this board book edition of the laugh-out-loud fourth picture book in the bestselling Escargot series—the perfect gift for Easter or all year round.

Bonjour! After a long winter spent indoors, Escargot can’t wait to look outside for the first signs of Spring. Will he find a new friend in the fluffy white bunny he meets along the way?

From New York Times–bestselling author Dashka Slater and former Pixar animator Sydney Hanson, Escargot and the Search for Spring is an irresistibly sweet and charming story about unlikely friendship, changing seasons, and springtime fun. This hilarious and interactive addition to the award-winning Escargot series is the ideal read aloud for babies and toddlers, story time, and animal lovers.

Don’t miss Escargot’s other funny and heartwarming adventures for kids ages 4-6 in:
● Escargot (also available as a board book for babies and toddlers up to 3 years old)
● A Book for Escargot
● Love, Escargot (also available as a board book for babies and toddlers up to 3 years old)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374392017
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	01/14/2025
Series:	Escargot
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	566,683
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Dashka Slater has written many picture books, including Escargot, which won the Wanda Gag Book Award; A Book for Escargot; Love, Escargot; Escargot and the Search for Spring; Baby Shoes; and The Antlered Ship, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection and received four starred reviews. Her New York Times–bestselling nonfiction young adult novel The 57 Bus won several accolades including the Stonewall Book Award and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Nonfiction Book Award. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Sydney Hanson is a children’s book illustrator living in Sierra Madre, California. She works in a combination of traditional and digital media to create her illustrations—her favorites are watercolor and colored pencil. She loves the outdoors and is a certified naturalist who spends most of her spare time poking around the woods with her Labrador retriever, Cash. To see all of her latest animals and illustrations, follow her on Instagram.

Editorial Reviews

Escargot tires of winter and searches for signs of spring . . . Hanson’s gentle watercolors bring to life a charming verdant landscape. Equal parts insecure and boastful, Escargot embodies the roller coaster of emotions that many youngsters feel on any given day. Not to fear: Flowers are finally found and friendships are formed, but the steady, slimy path of chatty dialogue is, as usual, magnifique.” —Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Escargot Series:

"Escargot’s voice is parfait." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review, on Escargot

"Say bonjour to your new favorite animal, the garden snail! . . . Give this charming read-aloud a little extra joie de vivre by reading it in your best French accent." —Booklist on Escargot

"Escargot is a treat!" —Booklist on A Book for Escargot

"A fun interactive book that will have readers practicing their own over-the-top French accent." —School Library Journal on A Book for Escargot

"It’s easy to be won over by this mighty mollusk." —Kirkus Reviews on Love, Escargot

"It was love at first sight for this magnifique book." —New York Journal of Books on Love, Escargot

From the Publisher

03/01/2024

PreS-Gr 1—Tired of winter, snow angels, and even cocoa, Escargot, the small French snail, is ready for the new season. Wearing his blue-and-white striped shirt, a red scarf, and matching hat with pompom, the gastropod digs himself out of his snow-blocked front door and goes exploring. Endearing cartoon illustrations are softly colored and humorous: Escargot attempting to make snow angels but having to deal with the shell on his back, looking a bit shamefaced as he eats a snowman's carrot nose, and creating a new style for his antennae with a ribbon. His moods are easily read by the funny positions of his antennae: holding a snow shovel to dig himself out of his home and using one to hold a book while the other props up his head. Youngsters may wonder if the first sign of Spring isn't the beautiful flowers enjoyed by Escargot and his new friend, but an intrusive white rabbit. Is this the Easter Bunny with his basket—filled with fresh vegetables instead of eggs—labeled with Escargot's name? And is it an accident that gastropod (snail) and gastronomy (the practice of eating good food) come from the same Greek root? VERDICT Young children will get a kick out of Escargot's fourth story and may even learn a few of the French words scattered throughout Escargot's monologue.—Maryann H. Owen

School Library Journal

2023-12-06
Escargot tires of winter and searches for signs of spring.

Even with a cozy blanket, stacks of good books, and a salad puzzle strewn on the floor, poor Escargot is feeling out of sorts. The tiny snail questions readers: “Does it seem like my eyes are not so bright? / Do my tentacles look droopy? / Perhaps my trail isn’t quite as shimmery as before?” Escargot has “ennui.” Not even hot chocolate sounds good anymore. Escargot decides to dig away at the snow that’s piled up at the front door (readers will realize that the “snow” is in fact a fluffy bunny’s hindquarters) and slide outside to find the first signs of spring. Escargot saunters off. But wait. Escargot leans in to whisper conspiratorially: “Is it just me, or is that snowbank following us?” “Oh lá lá!” Indeed, it’s not snow; it’s a bunny! With sad eyes and bowed tentacles, Escargot sighs, “You probably think the bunny rabbit is adorable. / More adorable than a French snail…” Hanson’s gentle watercolors bring to life a charming verdant landscape. Equal parts insecure and boastful, Escargot embodies the roller coaster of emotions that many youngsters feel on any given day. Not to fear: Flowers are finally found and friendships are formed, but the steady, slimy path of chatty dialogue is, as usual, magnifique.

Sure to banish cold-weather doldrums. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews