Snails Are Just My Speed!: TOON Level 1

by Kevin McCloskey

Overview

Did you know snails build roads like engineers and go undercover in camouflage like spies? Did you know they can be smaller than a seed or bigger than a grown-up’s hand? Kevin McCloskey mixes snail science, art, and hilarity for the newest book in his Giggle and Learn series, praised by The New York Times as “a winning combination of facts and gross-out fun.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943145270
Publisher:	TOON Books
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Series:	Giggle and Learn Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	426,501
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kevin McCloskey is the author of the critically acclaimed TOON Books Giggle and Learn series and an illustration professor at Pennsylvania's Kutztown University. After writing this book, Kevin is practically a snail expert, but he can't tell us whether the snails served in restaurants are tasty – he's never eaten one. What's the closest he's come to trying snails? Kevin says, "Sometimes, when I cook artichokes, I put a clove of garlic in the leaves. Then when they're cooked, I forget I put the garlic in and I think there's a slug in my food."

Interviews

Finalist for 2019 Excellence In Graphic Literature Award, Best in Children's Graphic Literature (Nonfiction)!

Editorial Reviews

05/14/2018
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)

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2018

"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

"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

"McCloskey’s series continues to deliver an offbeat blend of science, humor, and a dynamic interplay between words and pictures." - Publishers Weekly

"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

"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

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2018
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

School Library Journal

2018-02-19
Young naturalists will love McCloskey's look at snails.In a manner most unsnaillike, McClokey zooms from fact to fact as he informs and entertains readers with information about these surprisingly interesting gastropods. The pacing never feels rushed, however, as the facts transition as smoothly as if on a "road of slimy mucus." Readers will learn how slowly snails move as compared to other creatures, the advantages of moving slowly, and how they influence the journeys of other snails (spoiler alert: Mucus just may be involved). Fans of The Real Poop on Pigeons (2016) and We Dig Worms (2015) will get a kick out of this latest installment in the fact-based early graphic novel series. The information is paired with colorful cartoon illustrations that toe the line between caricature and surrealism. While the snails are the book's stars, they are observed by a group of racially diverse children. Savvy educators will appreciate the book's versatility: It would be the star of an intimate gross-book-themed storytime (due to its relatively small size) 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. (Graphic informational early reader. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews