Benjamin Gibson
Presents...
Written and Illustrated by
Benjamin Gibson
This book is for Ally and Jack Gibson
One day in the snail’s garden...
6
Finley went out to take a stroll. Snails, like Finley, are very slow animals. Some may even consider them the slowest, but Finley here may be the slowest of them all. Finley never seems to be in a hurry, no matter the time.
One may wonder if they are so slow because of all the slime…. Finley didn’t use to think being slow was much fun
They were always left behind. They wished they could keep up with their friends who would use their legs to run. 8
The garden was Finley’s home and they felt they knew every inch of it until...
One day after climbing up a big rock to get a look at the garden.
9
They found a clearing in the grass. Finley had explored every path in the garden and this one was new. The snail said “Hey, I have nothing else to do!” and decided to adventure down the new path.
The grass around the snail began to rustle and Finley looked around to try and see. Suddenly, a BIG hairy spider crawled out of the grass and approached Finley.
Finley quickly tried to hide in their shell... but the spider did not go away.
Instead, the spider just stood and looked at Finley like they had something to say. 12
“Hello.” Said the spider to Finley,” thank you for not running away”. Finley, very confused by the friendliness of the spider, replied “ you’re welcome?”
“Aren’t you going to eat me?” asked Finley to the big scary thing.
“I would never think of it!” said the spider, “My name is Moose the spider and you are the first animal who has ever stopped to talk to me!” 14
“When other creatures see me, they all run away scared,” explained Moose, “they think I am going to eat them when all I want to do is be friends.”
Finley felt bad after hearing Moose’s story. “I am sorry for scaring you, but do you think we could be friends?” asked Moose.
The snail thought ‘if I had been able to run, I would not have been able to meet this spider’. 16
Finley realized that the spider was just lonely and wanted a friend. “I would love to be your friend!” cheered Finley.
Moose jumped with glee and Finley was happy that they could help such a friendly thing.
“I am so happy to have a friend!” said Moose. Finley began to realize, maybe being slow is not so bad after all. 18
About the Snail’s Garden
The Snail’s Garden was written as a way to introduce children to the idea of being themselves. An issue that children will face early on in life is a sense of not knowing who they are. It is important for young children to understand that its ok to be themselves and that life if not about fitting in with everyone else’s expectations. Through the adventures of Finley the snail, children will learn to accept themselves for who they are and not who other people want them to be.
Check out these other books!
The Snail’s Garden the Busy Bee
The Snail’s Garden Aphids and the Ladybug