The Snail and the Whale

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There are lots of adjectives and other descriptive words in the story which describe different things. Can you find them all? Could you make a poster which shows what they are?

We've chosen some of our favourite seaside-themed children’s books for all ages - which one is your favourite? On 6 November 2018, it was announced that BBC One and Magic Light Pictures would bring audiences The Snail and the Whale for Christmas 2019. The music is supplied by French composer and musician Rene Aubry, [4] and the animation was provided by Triggerfish Animation Studios. [5] The 26-minute production aired on BBC One at 2:30pm on 25 December 2019, [6] and again at 2:05pm on 1 January 2020. It was released on DVD on 10 February 2020 in the United Kingdom.

One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. The whale sang a song to the snail. Could you write the words to the song or make up a tune for it? A poetic story of love, adventure and music that demands to be read aloud or possibly sung, depending on the power of the reader's purr.

Imagine that you had to write a newspaper report about the people (and the snail) who saved the whale. What would it say? This precipitates an epic journey that sees the snail and the whale in icy seas, observing mountains and golden sands on the shore, under the sea admiring the sea-life, surviving a thunderstorm and avoiding pleasure seekers in a holiday resort. If it seems strange that these two would be travelling companions, we will learn as we read this story, that this snail and whale each play an important role in each other’s lives. Lots of Julia Donaldson books feature animal characters - from whales to ladybirds, from monkeys to mice!Description: A half hour animated film for all the family based on the much-loved book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. But when disaster strikes and the whale is beached in a bay, it is the tiny snail who saves the day. Look at pictures of snails and whales and think of words / sentences / paragraphs to describe them (see Resources below).