The Snail House [Hardcover]

Allan Ahlberg (Author), Gillian Tyler (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Allan Ahlberg's fanciful tale, paired with beautifully detailed artwork by Gillian Tyler, invites children to see the world from a different perspective.

Here is the story Grandma tells one evening on her wide veranda steps. It has Michael and Hannah and the disappearing baby in it, a tigerish bird,
raindrops like sacks of water, and the hugest apple you ever saw. Oh yes . . . and the Snail House. So gather round, climb up now into Grandma’s lap. Darkness is falling, the air is still, and the story is just about to begin.

With rhythmic text and intricate illustrations, renowned author Allan Ahlberg and illustrator Gillian Tyler have crafted a magical tale about the joys of seeing the world up close—and of sharing stories.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What if one day you and your siblings shrunk down to a tiny, tiny size, crept out under a crack in the door, and went to live in a snail house... on the back of a moving snail? That's precisely what happens in Allan Ahlberg and illustrator Gillian Tyler's quiet, lovely picture book The Snail House, told in a folksy, story-time voice by Grandma to her grandchildren Hannah and Michael and their baby brother. ("'It have a TV?' Hannah said. 'No TV, sweetheart, not in those days. But a radio, yes.'")

Young children will adore poring over every delicate detail of Tyler's exquisitely drawn snail's-eye view of the world, a universe where falling apples cause earthquakes and babies can be lost in a forest of grass. The snail house--complete with doors, windows, porch railings, tiny furniture, and toys--provides fodder for hours of close examination. Scary moments like the arrival of a giant snail-eating thrush ("'No!' cried Hannah") contrast with peaceful times, such as stretching a clothesline between the snail's eyestalks, reading books, and washing windows. All in all, this fine book is a visual feast with the miniature-world appeal of The Borrowers. Preschoolers can revel in the fascinating picture story without having to read a word. (Ages 3 to 7) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

Tyler's (The Good Little Christmas Tree) paneled, watercolor and pen-and-ink pictures in miniature play a pivotal role in revealing the engaging action in this creatively designed, horizontal volume. Small-scaled, wispy and finely detailed, her art bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the late Janet Ahlberg. In his story within a story, author Ahlberg introduces a brother and sister who climb into their grandmother's ample lap while their baby brother dozes in a stroller. The woman tells them about three siblings portrayed in the pictures as their look-alikes who one day shrink to a tiny size and take up residence in a snail's shell: "It was a proper house too, with a door and windows, roof and chimney, table, chairs, three little beds, curtains, and crockery everything!" Side panels show the siblings battling bugs with a broomstick and hanging laundry on a line fixed between the snail's feelers. As the children eagerly interrupt their grandmother to comment on her tale, the nimble, conversational narrative describes a trio of adventures that the children embark upon before bidding farewell to their snail. Ahlberg again displays his gift for storytelling in a work that will surely set young imaginations loose and may well color the way readers view diminutive garden dwellers. Tyler's paintings prove that she is equally adept at depicting these likable human characters as she is the natural world. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763607118
• ISBN-13: 978-0763607111
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SURELY 2000'S BEST PICTURE BOOK ?, March 25, 2001

By 

"hurburgh" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Snail House (Hardcover)

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"The Snail House" will take everybody back to that safe warm world, where you sat on Grandma's knee and had stories told to you.

It is both a fantasy and a reality for children to see the world around them at different size scales. This might have something to do with little person's low-eyelevel perspective. Most young children play in a miniaturised world, Little boys with the toy cars and trains, or little girls with their baby dolls. Playing on the floor or out in the garden, small things look large, and big things look huge.

In this story, Grandma transports the children to a world where they live in a snail's shell house. They have three adventures. The great earthquake when the apple fell; baby gets lost when she climbs the dandelion; and the day the thrush almost got their snail but was scared away by a cat.

One of the charms of the book, is the way the children interrupt their Grandma as she tells the story, and ask questions and make suggestions. Does that sound familiar?

We are never that far from the real world. On each page, outside the frames that contain Grandma's story we see the children with their grandmother or shown scenes close by her house. We are reminded that traffic is humming on the distant road and "headlights are gleaming in the gathering dark".

This is one of those rare picturebooks where the story and illustrations mesh perfectly. The story within the story is a neat device, perfectly matched and supported by the illustrations, which show both the "real world" at Grandma's house and the "story book" micro-world of the adventures with the snail.

Gillian Tyler's portrayal of the miniature scenes in the garden is superb. The details and activities going on beyond the written story will intrigue and capture the attention of all youngsters.

There is just a hint of mystery in the story. In the last scene, we see young Hannah out on the verandah "standing yet, gazing into the muffled blackness of the garden".

"The Snail House" shows us that gentle, lyrical writing, and charming and soft but detailed pictorials still have an important part to play in making a children's picture book work successfully. It is a refreshing change from a lot of the garishly, overly styled, supposedly smart and sometimes very cynical children's books that we often see.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Fanciful Story, November 12, 2001

By 

Katie Hammond (Boise, ID) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Snail House (Hardcover)

I'm a graduate student in Boise Idaho. I'm in an Advanced Children's Literature class and I've been asked to write a review of a newer children's book for this website. I chose The Snail House by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Gillian Tyler. This is a story about a Grandmother telling a fantasy to her grandchildren. All of my grandparents are deceased, but as a child my grandmother used to tell us stories. This is much of the reason that I chose this story. It sort of brought me back to my childhood. The book starts out with Michael, Hannah, and the baby. They all climb onto Grandmother's lap to hear the story of a boy and his sister and their baby brother who suddenly become so tiny that nobody can see them. They decide to leave their home to live for a little while in a home that fit their new size. This home was a snail house. They have everything they could possible need; a door, windows, a kitchen, tables and chairs-everything. In this house which is also a moving house they have a number of adventures; an earthquake, the baby disappearing, and the thrush who would like to eat their house. Along with this wonderful story told by Grandmother are enchanting illustrations that draw the reader further into the story. This is a great read for the ages of 4 to 10, however I'm 27 and I enjoyed it immensely.