From School Library Journal
Grade 3 Up–A charming modern fable. Avon the snail's voracious reading convinces him that having an adventure is the key to a happy life so he sets out on a journey with his new friend, Edward the ant. In a series of very short chapters, the two travel–at a snail's pace–the length of a branch, meeting another snail, a caterpillar, a worm, a cricket, a salamander, and a mouse (whom Edward and Avon are sure is a dragon in disguise). Many insights unfold: "here" and "there" are not much different; while getting lost is easy, it's finding one's self that's hard; whether rushing or going slowly, one still arrives; and it is important to look at the world with one's heart and not just with one's eyes. The book is full of plays on "beginning" and "end." Until Avon and Edward help the worm, he is unsure which is his front and which is his back, and is doomed to a life without end. When they reach the end of the branch, are they actually at the end of the sky and the beginning of the branch? Avon and Edward turn around and head back, coming to a house that looks magically like Avon's own. The friends decide to live together in this magic castle. And so, true to the book's title, the beginning of their friendship ends. Whimsical pen-and-ink sketches add much to this wise little book. It's perfect for reading and discussing.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Avon the Snail is a reader, so he knows that everyone leaves on a journey to find adventure. When he laves on his quest, he takes along Edward the Ant, and the friends find a dragon (in disguise, of course) as they travel from here to there, and discover that the end of the branch they are on is the beginning of the sky. With Tusa's occasional, expressive pencil drawings, this small chapter book seems part warm Frog-and-Toad-type friendship tale and part gentle farce. Young grade-schoolers will enjoy the slapstick with the small creatures; older ones will have fun with the wordplay (Father is stuck at home writing about fast food for Readers Digestion) and the situations (in a letter to his friend Avon writes about what he's doing--writing to his friend). Best of all is the fun with the heroic quest of leaving home to find home. A story that begs to be read aloud; even kindergartners will enjoy it. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Avon the snail has never had an adventure. And adventure, he has heard, is the key to a happy life. So with his new friend Edward the ant, Avon sets out on a journey to find the excitement his life has been missing.
The travelers meet all manner of wise, weird, and intriguing creatures--including a dragon!--and it's not long before their adventures begin.
In the tradition of such classics as The Little Prince, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Winnie-the-Pooh, this completely original story--a modern fable for our time--brims with wit, wisdom, and profound insights about the meaning of things . . . great and small.
About the Author
AVI has written many acclaimed novels for middle grade and teen readers, including his Newbery Medal-winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead and his two Newbery Honor Books, Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
TRICIA TUSA has illustrated several picture books, including Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou and her own Maebelle's Suitcase; Camilla's New Hairdo, a Parents Magazine Best Book; and Bunnies in My Head, which also features drawings by the young patients at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She lives in Houston, Texas.
The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant) ANNOTATION
Avon the snail and Edward, a take-charge ant, set off together on a journey to an undetermined destination in search of unspecified adventures.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Avon the snail has never had an adventure. And adventure, he has heard, is the key to a happy life. So with his new friend Edward the ant, Avon sets out on a journey to find the excitement his life has been missing.
The travelers meet all manner of wise, weird, and intriguing creatures--including a dragon!--and it's not long before their adventures begin.
In the tradition of such classics as The Little Prince, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Winnie-the-Pooh, this completely original story--a modern fable for our time--brims with wit, wisdom, and profound insights about the meaning of things . . . great and small.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Newbery medalist Avi (Crispin) returns to animal fantasy with this gently humorous tale about two travelers in search of excitement, an earlier version of which appeared as a beginning reader (Snail Tale: The Adventures of a Rather Small Snail, 1972). Avon the snail wants adventures like the characters he reads about in books. He sets aside caution and heads out, immediately meeting Edward, a cocksure ant who has (mostly wrong) answers for all of Avon's worries. Avi's droll wit spices the rather quiet journey, as when Edward goes to formally greet his new friend: "When he realized Avon did not have hands, he shook one of his own. `Pleased to meet you,' he said." Careful listeners will figure out the travelers' trip consists of the length of a long branch and will enjoy being in the know when Avon and Edward clearly aren't. What qualifies as excitement for this pair may not raise goose bumps on anybody else's skin-they mistake a mouse for a dragon ("good dragons disguise themselves as nice creatures, and bad dragons as nasty ones," Ant explains), and must "battle" an oncoming snail in order to pass one another on the narrow branch. But the bite-size chapters and the clever repartee make this a charming tale, and the occasional, slightly anthropomorphized pencil illustrations show Avon and Edward to be the friendliest of creatures. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature - Amie Rose Rotruck
Avon, a small snail, becomes convinced that because storybooks always end with the characters being happy, he needs to have an adventure to find happiness. Joined by his neighbor, an ant named Edward, Avon sets off on to find adventure. On their way, they meet a mouse that they think is a dragon, a caterpillar building a cocoon (who turns into a butterfly with no memory of being a caterpillar), and a cricket that needs a song and ends up singing silently. When Avon encounters another snail going the opposite way on a branch, it is a race to see who will win the right of way on the branch. Edward misses the crucial moment when the snails will meet, and sees only Avon and the other snail going the opposite way. When asked what happened, Avon responds, "I don't know. It all happened so quickly." That type of dry humor characterizes the entire book. Tusa's simple yet elegant black and white drawings accent the book perfectly. Edward and Avon are this generation's Frog and Toad. This book is touching without being cloying, witty without being sarcastic; Avi has created a masterpiece for all ages. 2004, Harcourt, Ages 6 up.
School Library Journal
Gr 3 Up-A charming modern fable. Avon the snail's voracious reading convinces him that having an adventure is the key to a happy life so he sets out on a journey with his new friend, Edward the ant. In a series of very short chapters, the two travel-at a snail's pace-the length of a branch, meeting another snail, a caterpillar, a worm, a cricket, a salamander, and a mouse (whom Edward and Avon are sure is a dragon in disguise). Many insights unfold: "here" and "there" are not much different; while getting lost is easy, it's finding one's self that's hard; whether rushing or going slowly, one still arrives; and it is important to look at the world with one's heart and not just with one's eyes. The book is full of plays on "beginning" and "end." Until Avon and Edward help the worm, he is unsure which is his front and which is his back, and is doomed to a life without end. When they reach the end of the branch, are they actually at the end of the sky and the beginning of the branch? Avon and Edward turn around and head back, coming to a house that looks magically like Avon's own. The friends decide to live together in this magic castle. And so, true to the book's title, the beginning of their friendship ends. Whimsical pen-and-ink sketches add much to this wise little book. It's perfect for reading and discussing.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Avon, a snail whose reading tastes run to adventure, longs for a real journey of his own. Setting out, he promptly meets his neighbor, an ant named Edward, who offers to accompany Snail on the expedition. Readers who remember the way that Mole sets out with Ratty, or the way Bilbo Baggins leaves home, or even those who remember their first adventures in the neighborhood will recognize these two for small creatures with large spirits. Their friendship is complicated by the little differences that friends discover-and cemented by shared interpretations of the bit of the world they encounter. Though they only reach the end of the branch, they meet some interesting fellow creatures, and their world grows immeasurably bigger, as many explorers and adventurers before them have discovered. Avi has reworked material from his Snail Tale (Pantheon, 1972), and the results have a charming gravity and affectionate tone. The compact, simple text is readable in a large font with great spacing; the small trim size and Tusa's graceful, whimsical black-and-white drawings suit the contents perfectly. (Fiction. 4-10)
Art & Photography
Book Info
