Escargot by Dashka Slater illustrated by Sydney Hanson

"Bonjour! I see you are staring at me! I don't mind. My name is Escargot, and I am such a beautiful French snail that every stares at me."

Did you see my post about the Eric Carle exhibition featuring books that 'break the fourth wall'? That's where I saw this book mentioned and so this week I borrowed two from the series (actually there are three) and I fell in love with cheeky little Miss Escargot.

I love the way she speaks directly to the reader:

"Right now, I am traveling to the salad at the end of this book. It is a beautiful salad, with croutons and a light vinaigrette. You should come! I just need a little push to help me start."

She even invites you to give her a little kiss! 

And she explains why she should be your favourite animal. Also you do need to know it is very important to never put any carrot in a salad. Oh no by the end of the book you and Escargot do arrive at the salad with a few croutons and a light vinaigrette but oh no it contains carrot!

Watch out for the slime covered end papers! Read more on the author web page. There is a plush toy of little Escargot - it would be such fun to own this in your preschool or prep library. A couple of the titles are also available as Board Books. 

The spare but cheekily charming prose will make children and parents smile, and the refined watercolor illustrations will easily draw in readers. Everything is very chic and understated, as is befitting this continental French snail. Once you finish, children will want it read again, giving you the perfect chance to refine your French pronunciation. The Children's Book Review

This book begs to be read aloud - I wish I had been able to do that in my former school library. It was published in 2017 but the good news is all three books are still available. 

These books should be added to your library shelves - they are sure to be SO popular or if you see one of these in library grab it quickly and take it home to share with your young reading companions. 

I am not surprised to see that Escargot won a Wanda Gag Read aloud award. I said there are three books in this series but I now discover the fourth book - Escargot and the search for Spring. I am not sure if it is available yet. Here is a lesson plan for using Escargot to talk about persuasion. 

REVIEWS

Love Escargot "Breaking right through the fourth wall, the stylish snail encourages readers to embrace their snail selves . . . Sweet art means that when Escargot winsomely tells readers, 'You can kiss me if you like,' it’ll be hard for them to pass up the chance...  Though love and snails rarely go together, it’s easy to be won over by this mighty mollusk." Kirkus