TO SNAIL OR NOT TO SNAIL

A snail and a bee realize that they play important parts in the natural world in this rhyming picture book.

A busy bee and a sluggish snail say to each other: “You’re not like me.” Bee doesn’t understand why Snail moves so slowly. Snail wonders why Bee is in such a hurry. But Bee explains that the flowers need her to pollinate them; Snail counters that his duties are also vital. If he didn’t do his job, “It would be bad, I suppose. / The leaves would not decompose.” Likewise, Bee knows that if she ceased working, fruits and flowers would stop growing. Each acknowledges the other’s significance, and the two share a cup of tea in the only fanciful moment in an otherwise grounded tale. Though Russell’s rhymes vary in tempo, the lines read aloud cleanly, with plenty of evocative words describing sounds and sensations: slugged, buzzed, munching. Lacy’s beautifully textured multimedia illustrations combine tight pen and ink work with watercolor and oil pastel backgrounds. Along with Bee and Snail, the pages are populated by frogs, hummingbirds, squirrels, deer, and other forest creatures. Detailed science notes, written by journalist Lucy Noland, add facts to a story that’s likely to deepen young readers’ appreciation of nature.

A lovely, enlightening tale about how unique roles make ecosystems—and communities—work.