The Legend of the Golden Snail Book

This is an absolutely stunning book. The pictures create a whole fantastical world: big, bold, amazingly colorful, intricate, and so easy for readers and listeners/viewers to dive into its pages. Each page has a striking illustration. It did take me awhile to get used to Wilbur's face; I've been having problems lately with the way faces are depicted in some picture books, but I actually grew to love Wilbur's facial expressions, and definitely loved his cat's expressiveness.

What a glorious romp! I love the premise of the story and how it's carried out too. The title of the book is the title of a book the main character, Wilbur, likes, and at the beginning of the book is a mini book permanently glued into the book; its text is very readable The story in the book captures the imagination of the boy Wilbur.

His mom is encouraging and he and his (wonderful orange) cat go on an adventure to the Ends of the Earth. There is a map! (And it in particular made me think that this book is like The Phantom Tollbooth, which is high praise from me, but can also be enjoyed by younger children.) And there are many adventures until Wilbur reaches his goal. When he does, he isn't the hero he'd imagined himself to be, but his actions make him more admirable. The message here elevates this book from a standard fantasy/imagination story to one that has something lovely to say.

Both boys and girls can fully enjoy this book. It can be equally enjoyed as a read aloud or an independent read.

There is even a Where's Waldo type question at the end that might send readers back for a search of their own, and a companion website too.

Reading this both pure fun and fodder for discussion.

As far as the "I would recommend to" field? I don't know what to say? Almost everybody who appreciates picture books?