The Snail and the King: A Home Library Essential

Janele Hoerner reviews a new rhyming book by Fr. Peregrine Fletcher, O.Praem., that teaches young children about theology.

The Snail and the King is an adorable interpretation of a timeless parable that we, as parents and educators, all know. However, the parable is retold with a new twist and with some cute animal friends as characters. This picture book instantly reminded me of a version of "The Tortoise and the Hare" mixed with the parables of Christ. The Snail and the King is written and illustrated by Fr. Peregrine Fletcher, O.Praem.

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These lines of text will build up children with godly strength to learn to combat the hardships of this world. It is not easy to teach children that they may, at times, be made fun of for their faith. Yet it is an essential truth that we all must learn, and this text captures that message is such an uplifting way. The children will see through this story that following Jesus and possibly being made fun of for their faith will help them to find salvation. This will help them to be strong like the snail is portrayed in this story since so many children cower at their first exposure to being made fun of.

They scoffed, they laughed, they jeered;
“You’re just a little snail!
Don’t make a fuss—the King wants us,
And not those who would fail.”

This book can aid our children to push through those remarks to make themselves a better human being. In these essential teaching moments, we need help to teach our children to be brave and assertive, in a positive way. It is in those times that a book such a this can be pulled out to show children who are suffering by being made fun of, that it is part of life to disagree with another human person.

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God wants us to be strong regardless of what others may say and that we are just as important in God’s kingdom as they would be. They will also encounter people who like the bear think that by talking about God we may be too preachy or too good to have any of their fun. Fr. Fletcher also has lines to teach of those types of people also:

“You preachy bug,” groaned bear,
“You’ll spoil all my fun.
For in this land there’s honeycomb!
What is the King has none?”

So many times, so many of us just want to entertain our children without attempting to educate because we ourselves are worn down by our day serving our families. We may want to fall to the easy books that do not teach much of a lesson, but are only written to entertain. Since there are thousands of children’s books in circulation that we can buy for the children we love, we must choose to select the few that carry good childhood theological messages. This is one of those titles that will become a family favorite and a shelf-worthy title for any Catholic home.

We can never have too many good theologically inspired books for our children to read and this title will become well used in your household. After all that is the point of education to educate the mind in truth and we can never begin this too young. My young girls loved the picture of when the snail becomes bright, shiny and new. They said this made them the happiest because it was when the Snail was finally with God.

The light here makes you strong
So that you’ll never break.
You’ll never cry, nor will you die—
Your heart will never ache!

We even have our own Lisa Hendey’s review of this book which speaks more than any of my words ever could. May your children’s heart be built up and transformed by this sweet new book release.

In The Snail and the King, Fr. Peregrine Fletcher invites each of us to contemplate the beauty of a divine calling and to give God our "Yes" regardless of our insecurities and fears. Fr. Peregrine’s art and prose are a magnificent reminder that we never journey alone in offering our lives to God and living according to God's perfect will. For the young and the young at heart, a stirring contemplation of God's goodness and love! —Lisa M. Hendey, author of I Am Earth's Keeper and Founder of CatholicMom.com

Ask for The Snail and the King at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Joannes Press.

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Is this a book you'd like to read? Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.