The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister Review

Reviewed by Siobhan Bridgwater

“The Tin Snail is the story of a brave little car that helped win a war”

The first impressions of the interesting children’s book were great. The title and bright red front sleeve got my son’s attention straight away and made him want to know what the Tin Snail was. He read the “blurb” – his word, not mine, on the back and it ticked on the boxes for this age range as he wants to be an inventor when he grows up and they have just started looking into World War 2 at school so he has heard about the Nazis.

There was no messing once the packaging was ripped open. My book-loving boy was immediately engrossed.

The book itself, Sid described as “child friendly” with its larger font and easy to understand style.

The story starts “in the middle of a situation” which made him curious about what was happening and what is going to happen.

When reading it out loud to me later, he struggled with words like voluptuous and disembowelled carcass and pain au chocolat – “but it does say pain here, Mum!” Otherwise he was haring ahead.  I would say, it is quite a good book to share with your parents and read out loud as it has promoted many discussions and we had lots of questions about rallies and cars.

Overall, he has really enjoyed the story although he did struggle a little with the French names and some of the vocabulary.

But it got a big thumbs up for Sid and from me. We loved it. Each chapter left him wanting to know what was coming next, and he read it cover to cover with great interest.

Whilst it initially appears suited to a young child, I also think the teenage range would enjoy it, particularly the boys.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £12.99 (Hardback) / £6.99 (Paperback) / £2.99 (Kindle)

Available to buy from Amazon here.