The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail and an Even Smaller Ant - Hardcover

Avi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152049681 ISBN 13: 9780152049683

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004

Synopsis

Wanting desperately to go on an adventure, Avon the snail joins up with his new friend Edward the ant to see the world and are soon on a wondrous journey where they see incredible sights and meet fantastic creatures of all shapes and sizes--including a very amicable dragon!

About this title

About the Authors

AVI has written many acclaimed novels for middle grade and teen readers, including his Newbery Medal-winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead and his two Newbery Honor Books, Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

TRICIA TUSA has illustrated several picture books, including Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou and her own Maebelle's Suitcase; Camilla's New Hairdo, a Parents Magazine Best Book; and Bunnies in My Head, which also features drawings by the young patients at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She lives in Houston, Texas.

AVI has written many acclaimed novels for middle grade and teen readers, including his Newbery Medal-winningCrispin: The Cross of Lead and his two Newbery Honor Books, Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel andThe True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

TRICIA TUSA has illustrated several picture books, including Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou and her ownMaebelle's Suitcase; Camilla's New Hairdo, a Parents Magazine Best Book; andBunnies in My Head, which also features drawings by the young patients at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

Grade 3 Up–A charming modern fable. Avon the snail's voracious reading convinces him that having an adventure is the key to a happy life so he sets out on a journey with his new friend, Edward the ant. In a series of very short chapters, the two travel–at a snail's pace–the length of a branch, meeting another snail, a caterpillar, a worm, a cricket, a salamander, and a mouse (whom Edward and Avon are sure is a dragon in disguise). Many insights unfold: "here" and "there" are not much different; while getting lost is easy, it's finding one's self that's hard; whether rushing or going slowly, one still arrives; and it is important to look at the world with one's heart and not just with one's eyes. The book is full of plays on "beginning" and "end." Until Avon and Edward help the worm, he is unsure which is his front and which is his back, and is doomed to a life without end. When they reach the end of the branch, are they actually at the end of the sky and the beginning of the branch? Avon and Edward turn around and head back, coming to a house that looks magically like Avon's own. The friends decide to live together in this magic castle. And so, true to the book's title, the beginning of their friendship ends. Whimsical pen-and-ink sketches add much to this wise little book. It's perfect for reading and discussing.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
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Gr. 2-4. Avon the Snail is a reader, so he knows that everyone leaves on a journey to find adventure. When he laves on his quest, he takes along Edward the Ant, and the friends find a dragon (in disguise, of course) as they travel from here to there, and discover that the end of the branch they are on is the beginning of the sky. With Tusa's occasional, expressive pencil drawings, this small chapter book seems part warm Frog-and-Toad-type friendship tale and part gentle farce. Young grade-schoolers will enjoy the slapstick with the small creatures; older ones will have fun with the wordplay (Father is stuck at home writing about fast food for Readers Digestion) and the situations (in a letter to his friend Avon writes about what he's doing--writing to his friend). Best of all is the fun with the heroic quest of leaving home to find home. A story that begs to be read aloud; even kindergartners will enjoy it. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter one

 

In Which the Adventure Begins

 

avon, a rather small snail, read a book every day. He loved to read because books told him all about the things that creatures did when they went on adventures.

           Now, Avon had noticed that when creatures finished their adventures, and when the stories ended, the creatures were always happy. Because Avon had never had an adventure of his own, the more he read, the sadder he became. It was absolutely necessary, he decided, to have adventures for himself. Only then would he be happy.

           He sighed. “No adventures will ever come my way.”

           A newt who was passing by overheard Avon’s words. “Nay, lad, don’t say such things.”

           “But don’t you see,” said Avon, close to tears, “the most important thing in the world is having adventures. Not only have I not had any, I don’t think I ever will. And if I don’t have adventures—like the ones I’ve read about in these books—I’m bound to be unhappy forever.”

           “Then go out and seek some adventures,” said the newt.

           “I don’t know how,” Avon said.

           “Remember, lad,” said the newt, “if it’s going to be tomorrow, it might as well be today. And if it is today, it could have been yesterday. If it was yesterday, then you’re over and done with it, and can write your own book. Think about that.”

                Avon thought about it for a long moment, and then he said right out loud,

           “Yes, I will do it. Yesterday for sure!”

 

 

Text copyright © 2004 by Avi

Illustrations copyright © 2004 by Tricia Tusa

 

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Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be submitted online at www.harcourt.com/contact or mailed to the ­following address: Permissions Department, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152049681
• ISBN 13: 9780152049683
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Tricia Tusa
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 143