The Snail and the Whale... sniff

[BlueRaincoat1]

I have a 4 yr old and a 19 month old. DH bought the Snail and the Whale in the supermarket the other day, we have a few Julia Donaldson books but I'd never read this one before.
Was busy reading it to the 19 month old, I was liking the nice flowing rhymes, when it got to the bit about the Snail saving the Whale- I had to stop for about 30 seconds to compose myself. Wtf? And then I stayed pretty choked up til the end. And the exact same thing happened when I read it again.
Please tell me I'm not alone - does anyone else find this book emotional? It's taken me very by surprise, the Gruffalo and A Squash and a Squeeze don't have this affect!

Don't buy 'paper dolls'. I must have read it 1000 times and still get choked up

Don't buy 'paper dolls'. I must have read it 1000 times and still get choked up

I was coming to say exactly this. The granny in her memory....

Sick man.
That's all i need to say ( sob)

The snail and the whale is my favourite recent children's book. I love everything about it.

"And they sang to the sea as they all set sail, on the tail of the grey-blue humpback whale."

It's beautiful.

Yes, especially the line “I feel so small”. I struggle to finish reading it out loud as I’m trying not to cry and sound mad. The tv adaptation should be on iplayer - it’s done really nicely.

Another here for full on sobbing at Paper Dolls

Or goodbye mog. Jeez Louise so sad.
I get a bit sobby at stick man.

Yep... paper dolls is the one that gets me every time!

I have the same reaction to The Snail and the Whale despite having read it to my DCs many times now!

I watched the bbc adaptation at 7 weeks pregnant for some light relief... boyfriend found me a wet, sobbing mess blubbing about the snail being so small....

Love the snail and the whale, always cry !

Stick man, Stick.
Not Sick man!

Another vote for Paper Dolls, I was a blubbering mess!

I couldn't agree more.
Not a Julia Donaldson book, but 10 Little Fingers and 10 Little Toes finishes me off every time.

Also came on to say don’t read the paper dolls! I read it to my dd the day before she started school and sobbed. As I have every time I’ve read it since!

I'm not sick, why can't they see?

I always felt terrible for Mrs Stickman, having no idea what happened to her husband, trying to keep things going for the kids, for a whole year.

I watched the BBC adaptation.

I was not ready for the plot at all.

It was not in any way like The Gruffalo and I think the BBC should have given it a trigger warning.

I thought it was just me and my pregnancy hormones.

Stick Man gets me when he lies down for a doze.

I always used to cry at The Snail and the Whale.

And Baggy Brown, by Mick Inkpen, makes me full on sob.

I blub at all Julia Donaldson books. I’m a gibbering wreck since having the DC!

Paper Dolls

Love it. It's a beautiful demonstration that sometimes the strengths of the smaller less able are bigger than the big strong and capable.

Stick man......oh god.... "he can't hear the bells or the sweet singing choir, or the voice saying here's a good stick for the fire"

SOB

I had to give up paper dolls for the duration of my pregnancy because the hormones were making e go fro stifling a son to full on bawling 🙈🙈🙈 The granny 😭