  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 03/15/2016 When Snail meets Worm, Snail has been blithely playing with his friends Bob and Anne, a rock and stick, respectively. Happily, Worm isn’t bothered by Snail’s inanimate buddies and joins right in. Next, Snail wants to climb a very tall flower. Like a good buddy, Worm cheers him on all the way to the top. Readers will be tickled when they see where Snail ends up, particularly when he looks back at his shell and exclaims, “I can see my house!” In the closing vignette, Worm describes his big, furry, brown pet, but Snail thinks it sounds like a scary spider. Kügler’s cartoonish creatures, rendered simply in thin lines and soft colors, each have comically googly eyes and cheery expressions, which add plenty of fun visual punchlines and context clues to the short, direct sentences making up the easy-to-read text. Thanks to Kügler’s large-format illustrations, early readers should handily pick up on the gently humorous miscommunications between Snail and Worm. The heartening message about accepting a friend’s quirks is a cozy bonus. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. School Library Journal - 06/01/2016 PreS-Gr 1—A friend is good to have, but a best friend is even better. Snail and Worm are best buds in the tradition of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad or Mo Willems's Elephant and Piggie. The pair have three silly adventures that are sure to please any young reader. Worm goes along with Snail's antics as they play tag with a rock named Bob and Ann the stick. When Snail is determined to climb a flower, Worm is there to cheer him on every step of the way. In the final story, Worm has lost his pet and describes what it looks like to his friend. Snail is positive that Worm's lost pet is a spider. The ending is humorous to all readers. This is a good choice for children not yet ready for early chapter books. The text is not too difficult, nor is it overwhelming. The speech for each character is written in different colors to make it easier to distinguish who is talking. Some of the humor may need to be explained to younger children, but it also makes this book enjoyable. The acrylic illustrations are simple, straightforward, and uncluttered. The characters have great expressions and are animated. VERDICT This appealing easy reader is a must-have for most collections.—Barbara Spiri, Southborough Library, MA - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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