I just had to have someone small helping someone big, like one of Aesop's Fables. We'd already done the Smartest Giant in Town, and that was also about big and small. Plus, I was writing a novel at the time called The Giants and the Joneses, who are a little bit like The Borrowers. I still had this idea for a story about a snail painting in it. Then this publisher decided they weren't going to do those types of books and they abandoned the whole series. In fact, I'd been asked, a few years before by an educational publisher to write some phonics stories starting with ‘Ai’ sounding words, so I thought of ‘paint,’ ‘snail’, ‘trail’. Actually, you're probably not going to be very impressed by this - it wasn't written from a great desire to save the world or anything. It was a long time ago, it was probably 15 to 20 years ago. The short film features a voice cast including Magic Light Pictures regular Rob Brydon as the whale, Sally Hawkins as the snail, Dame Diana Rigg as the narrator and Cariad Lloyd as the teacher.īT TV heard from Rob Brydon and Julia Donalson at the films launch to find out why this year's film is a little bit extra special.
Just like previous smash hits from the BBC and Donaldson such as Zog, Stick Man, Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo, the Snail and the Whale looks destined to be watched again and again by families over the holidays and beyond. One of Donaldson's most popular books, it was originally published in 2003, and follows the joyous adventure of a snail and a whale, celebrating the wonderful richness and diversity of our natural world and the power of voices that often go unheard. This year's book, lovingly recreated on the small screen by the aptly named Magic Light Pictures, is The Snail and the Whale. * Special thanks to Leah Lomiansky for this book recommendationįor further speech and language targets in The Snail and the Whale, see the list below.Saving Christmas all over again for a nation of stressed-out parents comes Julia Donaldson's annual Christmas Day film on BBC One. The Snail and the Whale is packed full of words containing /s/ blends and words ending in /l/, so also a fantastic choice for little ones working on these sounds. I love phrases such as “shimmering ice” and “stripy fish with feathery fins”. The use of adjectives and descriptive language is brilliant. The rich and sophisticated language throughout means there are plenty of language goals to target. Julia Donaldson’s playful use of rhyme, repetition and onomatopoeia make this a fun book to read aloud. The Snail and the Whale is a heartwarming story that illustrates that anyone, no matter how small they are, can achieve great things if they put their mind to it. But when the whale becomes beached in the bay, it’s up to snail to save the day. Together the snail and the whale go on an incredible adventure, seeing all sorts of amazing sights. A tiny snail longs to see the world and hitches a ride on a whale’s tail.
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