Marigold the snail finds it difficult to adjust to life with her new baby sister Daisy in this third picture-book from author/artist Andrea Zuill. It both confuses and irritates her that all the adults seem to think that everything Daisy does - even pooping! - is cute. Finally, when Daisy eats her favorite toy, our snail heroine has had enough, sliding away on her own. Or so she thinks. But when confronted by an angry bumblebee, Marigold discovers that Daisy, who sticks up for her, does have her good points after all...

Although I greatly enjoyed Zuill's previous forays - Wolf Camp and Dance Is for Everyone - into the world of picture-books, somehow I found that Marigold & Daisy just wasn't as appealing as I'd expected it to be. The text sometimes felt a little cluttered, especially in the case of the parental speech bubbles, with the endless "blah blahs," and the conclusion of the tale felt somewhat contrived. Somehow the bee didn't seem like enough of a threat to make Daisy's intervention really dramatic. The artwork was cute, but again, it didn't really stand out for me. Tastes vary, of course, and I would imagine that some readers will find this quite a winsome take on the classic theme of rivalry with a new sibling. For my part, I think there are better titles available - Wolfie the Bunny, Julius, the Baby of the World - and it is to them that I would recommend my fellow readers turn their attention, if searching for such stories. ( )

This story is about a snail who recently has a baby sister and can't figure out why everyone thinks she's the most adorable thing in the world. It journeys through Marigolds (main snail) struggle and how she learns to love her baby sister.