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SNAIL AND SLUG

Name: SNAIL AND SLUG
Author: Denys Cazet
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4506-1

by Denys Cazet ; illustrated by Denys Cazet ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2016

The beginning of a beautiful gastropod friendship; similar to watching the protagonists in action in real life.

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A snail with a Tardis-like shell proves that her heart is just as big.

Snail and Slug are wilting in the summery heat near a small stream. After Slug bemoans her lack of a shell (or even a pocket!), Snail invites her inside for a cold drink. “Oh, don’t worry, my house is bigger than it looks.” This proves to be an understatement, as Snail has a full kitchen (with a dishwasher), living room, two bedrooms, a library, a cellar, and an attic. During this tour, Slug and Snail get better acquainted: both lost their spouses to predators; Snail is a good reader; Slug is a good cook and likes to make up songs. And on a picnic together, Slug proves her resourcefulness and friendship. In the end, as readers will already have predicted, Snail offers to share her home with Slug. Cazet’s mixed-media illustrations in a pastel palette portray the quiet domesticity of Snail’s life and abode. The two friends look similar, Snail blue and slightly larger and with longer antennae than pink Slug. Four Eyes the bully banana slug may have readers combing their gardens, but Four Eyes’ obvious agony under Slug’s salt treatment may turn them off that time-honored pest-control method.

The beginning of a beautiful gastropod friendship; similar to watching the protagonists in action in real life. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 3, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-4506-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Denys Cazet ; illustrated by Denys Cazet

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BOB AND TOM
by Denys Cazet ; illustrated by Denys Cazet

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RUMORS
by Denys Cazet

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DECOY SAVES OPENING DAY

by Shohei Ohtani & Michael Blank ; illustrated by Fanny Liem ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 3, 2026

A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.

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Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.

A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026

ISBN: 9780063460775

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)