Snail & Worm: All Day by Tina Kügler

Snail & Worm: All Day 

by Tina Kügler book cover

After taking home a Geisel honor in 2018 for Snail & Worm Again, the duo of invertebrates are at it again in their third adventure. 

As with the previous titles, Snail & Worm: All Day is comprised of three stories. In the first story, Snail is having a terrible day, but still proclaims to Worm that it’s the “Best Day Ever” because their friends have all accomplished great things. The second story begins with Snail encountering a dark and spooky cave that houses a scary dragon. Although readers, along with Worm, will quickly realize it’s a turtle shell and a turtle, not a cave and a dragon. It’s all too much for Snail, who ends the chapter with a nap. In the final story Snail asks Worm for a bedtime story, a request that turns out to be far from simple, but still heartwarming in its conclusion. 

The all-dialogue text uses mostly short, single syllable words bolstered by helpful visual context clues. Every so often a longer word will creep into, but not so often as to be off putting. Even though there aren’t any speech bubbles, it’s always clear who is speaking thanks to thoughtfully layouts and page design. The line breaks are especially clean and crisp. 

A two page spread from Snail & Worm: All Day  by Tina Kügler. On the left hand page, Caterpillar climbs over a leaf while Worm and Snail watch. On the right hand page, Snail and Worm watch Bird feed her chicks in a tree. 

The full page illustrations, created with acrylic on pastel paper, collage, and digital media, use a bright autumnal palette to bring the natural settings to life. They also provide just enough visual context clues to set the scene, a perfect match for the level of text complexity. Although background colors change throughout the book, which occasionally makes the text a little difficult to decipher, all in all the text placement is well done. 

A two page spread from Snail & Worm: All Day  by Tina Kügler. On the left hand page, Worm and Snail make a plan to tell a story together. On the right, Snail worries that the story won't be good enough. Worm tells them not to worry.

In a classic comedy set up, Worm plays the straight man (er, worm) to Snail’s comedic foil. Readers love to be smarter than the characters, and Snail gives them a reason to feel clever at least once a chapter. 

A two page spread from Snail & Worm: All Day  by Tina Kügler. On the left hand page, Snail encounters Turtle. On the right, Snail is convinced Turtle is a dragon, but all Turtle wants to do is nap. 

Personally, this is my favorite Snail & Worm title of the bunch. It’s witty, it’s silly, it’s intentionally designed to support new readers. Is the third time the charm for Snail & Worm? Tell us what you think in the comments?