HOW NOT TO RESCUE A SNAIL

Snail loves the laidback life, but sometimes raising a ruckus is the right thing to do.

Quiet, introverted Snail reluctantly agrees to leave his accustomed spot near rooted best friend Stump for a short crawl with his well-traveled Grammy Slug, depicted in Collier’s sly cartoon scenes with glasses, a poof of gray hair, and a hiker’s backpack. But our hero is soon snatched up by a giant hand (“I’LL RESCUE YOU!”) that drops him off some distance away next to a batch of confused, similarly relocated snails from the next glade over. Though he’d rather retreat into his shell the way he does whenever he feels overwhelmed, the realization that he has to do something prompts him to freak out the hovering hand by bellowing “HANDS OFF!” (“AHHH!!!! YOU CAN TALK???”) and then to lead the whole gaggle of gastropods back home to join Grammy and Stump for a “hands-free” spaghetti brunch complete with commemorative “I Survived the Hand” T-shirts. As in previous series installments, Hrab writes with a winning mix of whimsy and empathy for her earnest little protagonist; she makes one message explicit by saluting the courage Snail shows in “raising his little voice in a big way” but slips in another with the oblique suggestion that it might be better to watch wild creatures rather than touch them.

The ultimate unlikely hero triumphs again, and readers will cheer him along each step of the way.