The Slug and the Snail is an Irish Traveller folktale told by award-winning author Oein DeBhairduin and illustrated by Olya Anima. Two slugs travel happily together until they meet a crow who asks them where their home is. The younger brother, embarrassed, makes himself a shell and calls himself snail; the older brother carries on as he is.
At first the brothers grow apart, but in time they learn to respect each other’s way of life. Drawn from the Irish Traveller storytelling tradition, it is a gentle tale about identity, self-acceptance and different ways of seeing the world.
Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year (Junior) 2023, nominated for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2024, and a Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week.
Details
- Written by Oein DeBhairduin, illustrated by Olya Anima
- Picture book
- Ages 4 to 8
- Co-published by Little Island Books and Skein Press
