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!

I can’t read the last page of Guess How Much I Love You to my daughter - when I get there it just hits me how much I love her.

On the other hand, Paper Dolls doesn’t move me at all!

I can’t even talk about the paper dolls without crying.

Also I find Topsy and Tim on CBeebies weirdly emotional and I don’t know why. I thought it was a pregnancy thing but baby’s out now and I’m still welling up watching it... wtf?!?!

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 wonder if his life insurance paid out?

Oh god the sad book by Michael Rosen, I actually can't read that out loud. Or bog babies for some reason.

I get the serious sniffles reading and watching Stick Man. My DD loves it and we found a real stick man in our garden. Afraid to admit that I took it back outside just in case his “stick lady love and stick children three” were wondering about him. The shame

Clubfoot are you made of stone?!

If that one makes you cry then you should definitely avoid "No Matter What" by Debi Gliori. DD13 hasn't read it in years, but I secretly saved it when we passed on her little 'un books and intend to give it to her for her 18th so she can cry as much as I did

And the one " l love you forever, l like you a lot, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" full on snottery sobs!!

Omg Paper Dolls! I read that for the first time to a class of seven year olds...note to self always read the book before you read it out loud with an audience! Snipping scissors, Grannies in memories! I was a choked up mess

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. @jarjarjam

It is on iplayer, we watched it earlier. All of the adaptations are on there at the moment.

@AnnaMagnani same. I was expecting some happy, Christmas day cheer. I sat on the sofa stuffing green triangles and sobbing. DH came in and I tried to explain and sobbed more.

I've never felt like that about The Snail and the Whale, I do like it though . I have been really disappointed with JD's more recent books-the older ones were brilliant. Michael Rosen's Sad is He lost his son when he was really young. I picked up a picture book at the library last week called Mum's Jumper, which was also incredibly sad. One I sob at is Grandad's Island 😭

Grandad's island. My voice cracks every time.

For some daft reason I read it to my dc's the day my dad died. The book set me off even more.

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon.

It's like Shawshank Redemption.

Yep, the Snail and the Whale always made me cry. The adaptation at Christmas did too. I’m not even sure why?

Another paper dolls cryer here. Properly sobbed the first time , always brings a tear

Snail and the whale is my favourite Julia Donaldson book and I was so happy when she said it was going to be the Christmas movie and it didn't disappoint.

Oh! The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss gets me I read it to the kids the night before they go back to school. It just reminds me of how much potential I had when I was younger.

Its my favourite JD book and won’t let DD2 who is now 12 give it away.
😢

I'm very happy to see I'm not alone! There are loads mentioned here I haven't read, hopefully one day I will. Other ones that got me were 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. And a recent one from the library called The Suitcase which is about a stranger from a land far away who arrives only with a suitcase containing a broken teacup and a photograph. After being a bit suspicious and a little unkind, the other animals build him a little house to live in. Was all quite emotional for a story with very few words.

I Forgot To Say I Love You used to get me everyone. Even now, years later I'm welling up thinking about it.

Was absolutely not prepared for paper dolls and full on sobbed while my 2 year old looked at me like a bewildered rabbit. Love snail and the whale too.

@Bunchofkeys possibly

I’ll go and get it and have another read, this time with particular emphasis on the granny!

I've still got The Snail and The Whale recorded from Christmas, not sure I want to watch it now!

Yes it’s something about the village rushing to rescue the whale that always chokes me up. Can’t really explain it. DH thinks I’m mad