Serge, the Snail Without a Shell

by Harriet Alida Lye, Rosa Rankin-Gee, Andrea Blinick (Illustrator)

The whimsical debut picture book by two celebrated novelists about a slug, desperate to fit in at all costs, and the adventure he embarks upon to learn that maybe being yourself is best of all! Serge was a snail without a shell.
His mum and his dad were shell-less as well.
"You're no more than a SLUG!" the snails at school taunted.
I wish I had a shell. It was all that Serge wanted. Serge is not like the snails at school. They call him a horrible name―slug―and even though that's entirely what he is, he wishes for a shell of his own. Feeling like an outcast, Serge sets off on a solo adventure in search of the elusive shell that will make a perfect home―and make him just like everybody else. After some much-needed advice from his friend Fish, he finds himself at the ocean, where many options await: "Big shells and teeny shells/ All the in-betweeny shells/ Pyramid and swirly shells/Altogether curly shells!" But can Serge find the perfect shell, or is he destined to be different forever? A charming, lyrical story with bouncy text, whimsically illustrated by artist Andrea Blinick, Serge the Snail Without A Shell puts a modern twist on a tale as old as time: trying to fit in at all costs, before realizing that maybe being yourself is best of all.

34 pages, Hardcover

Published March 22, 2023

About the author

Harriet Alida Lye is the author of four books: two novels, one memoir, and one children's picture book. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, The National Post, The Happy Reader, Hazlitt, Vice, Catapult, and more. She founded the literary magazine Her Royal Majesty, which ran for six years and republished the first ever short story by Alice Munro. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Toronto. She lives in Toronto with her partner, their two children, and two dogs.