Snippet the Early Riser by Bethanie Deeney Murguia (review)

Unlike the rest of his snoozy family, Little Snippet the snail is an early riser, and this particular morning he is intent on waking his parents and sister up some a.m. fun. With the aid of various bug buddies, Snippet tries to rouse his sluggish family in a number of ways, from jumping on the “bed” (the family is attached to the underside of a leaf) to singing loudly to pushing on their shells, all to no avail. Caterpillar’s munching gives Snippet an idea, and he gathers a pile of his family’s favorite leaves, then chews through the “bed” leaf all around the sleeping family, dropping them onto the leaf pile below, thus giving them “breakfast in bed.” The gentle garden world Murguia creates in both text and illustrations (rendered in watercolor, gouache, and ink) is a charming in its details: Snippet and his siblings munch star-shaped holes into leaves, Mama appears to have a ruby-encrusted shell, and the snails play soccer using a pill bug as the ball. Fresh white and soft tints of blue, green, and gold provide soothing backdrops for the brighter hues of the black-outlined bugs. Many families will relate to the mismatch between children’s and older folks’ waking times, so this might be a pleasant way to begin one of those early mornings at home. The snail facts tidily presented on the endpapers also make it a genial introduction to a snail nature study.