Escargot (Escargot #1)

by Dashka Slater (Author) Sydney Hanson (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
Series: Escargot

Bonjour! Escargot is a beautiful French snail who wants only two things:

  1. To be your favorite animal.
  2. To get to the delicious salad at the end of the book.

But when he gets to the salad, he discovers that there's a carrot in it. And Escargot hates carrots. But when he finally tries one--with a little help from you!--he discovers that it's not so bad after all!

A charming and interactive picture book ideal for picky eaters and animal lovers alike.

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$19.99

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ALA/Booklist

Give this charming read-aloud a little extra joie de vivre by reading it in your best French accent.

Kirkus

An unusual, tongue-in-cheek aid to getting children to eat a disliked food--even the dreaded carrot.

School Library Journal

PreS-K--Meet Escargot, a French snail, complete with black beret, striped shirt, and red kerchief. He is on a journey to the end of the book, where there is a delicious salad, "with croutons and a light vinaigrette." Escargot invites a child reader to join him and asks the child to name a favorite animal, before he shares "a very sad thing: Nobody ever says their favorite animal is the snail." Escargot uses his persuasive powers to challenge the reader to view his qualities in a new light and choose him as a favorite pet. For example, the trails he makes are "shimmery" instead of slimy, and his shyness masks a ferocity that he uses to scare away unwanted carrots in his salad. Once Escargot and the reader reach the salad, there's a dreaded carrot in it! Escargot suggests that "on the count of three we will take a very, very, very small bite of the carrot." The snail finds it surprisingly delicious (it's assumed that the reader might, too), and with panache, he declares the reader his favorite animal. With soft, muted colors and a charismatic main character, this title will win many fans. VERDICT A magnifique read-aloud that will charm and delight preschool audiences.--Ramarie Beaver, Plano Public Library System, TX

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Winner of the 2019 Kentucky Bluegrass Award!
Winner of the Minnesota Comstock-Gag Award!

Say bonjour to your new favorite animal, the garden snail!...In Hanson's soft, cartoonish illustrations, Escargot's hammy expressions are perfectly in keeping with his gently boastful narrative. Give this charming read-aloud a little extra joie de vivre by reading it in your best French accent. —Booklist

A charming little French snail takes center stage as it entices a child to share a meal.It's hard to imagine an escargot heading toward a salad as destined to be anything other than part of the dish, but this engaging snail upends convention... An unusual, tongue-in-cheek aid to getting children to eat a disliked food—even the dreaded carrot. —Kirkus Reviews

Escargot's voice is parfait, an airy blend of ego and need masterfully balanced in witty and well-turned sentences that leave plenty of room for audiences to get the joke...Trim, controlled pencil and watercolor art gives Escargot the inevitable French sailor's shirt, neckerchief, and teeny beret, but the jaunty guy's wide, sincere eyes reveal the depth of his yearning snail soul—and make for some great comic faces. —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

Dashka Slater

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.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780374302818
Lexile Measure
520
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Publication date
April 11, 2017
Series
Escargot
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV002140 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Insects, Spiders, etc.
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / New Experi
Snails
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Insects, Spiders
2019 Kentucky Bluegrass Award!
Minnesota Comstock-Gag Award

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