Published: 27th October 2015
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Illustrator: Meg McLaren
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ – 2.75 Stars
Snail is an epic explorer … kind of. He loves the quiet things about adventures, like reading maps, hiking along slime trails, and collecting souvenirs. On big vacations, he finds the sights, sounds, and unfamiliar foods–like escargot!–way too overwhelming. In fact, his favorite part of a vacation is when he gets to return to his home SHHHweet home.
So, while his friends take a trip to the city, Snail and his buddy Stump decide to have an adventure in their own backyard–a staycation! The pair smell the silence, listen to the SHHH SHHH of the waterfall, and read their guidebooks with their indoor voices. Just when they start to wonder if they’ve run out of things to do, they notice something new: parachute seeds falling from the sky! The seeds have arrived for a vacation, and who better to show them around than Stump and Snail?
Snail’s second adventure is just as witty and charming as his first, with laugh-out-loud moments and hidden puns on every page. Snail and Stump’s staycation reveals the unexpected joys of staying home and promises that readers will find wonder around every corner, however close to home they may be.
Once again I have been lured in by an adorable cover, but unfortunately the story wasn’t to match. It was cute, it was funny, but it was only ok, not as delightful as I thought it would be.
The story follows the cute snail who highlights the joys of staying home, for the quiet person who doesn’t like loud noises and parties and prefers to go to museums and enjoy the park.
The narrative explores the idea that you don’t need to travel to enjoy a holiday, that you can appreciate the things around you and still have fun and meet new people.
Overall, it was a nice story. The shift in story was good, but could have been stronger, either as a real exploration of a stay at home holiday or as a plot driven narrative.
Snail was cute, his friend the tree was cute, and it was a good little story for those who like the alternatives to mountain climbing and partying whilst on holiday.
You can purchase How to Staycation like a Snail via the following
