What’s At the End of Your Nose? (Excerpt)

“A great starting point to spark discussion about one’s environment and finding magic in the ordinary.” -Luisa LeFleur, The Children’s Book Review

Welcome to the excerpt page for What’s At The End Of Your Nose?

Synopsis: Sidney Snail is so bored that he’s about to leave town in search of adventure. But when mysterious Old Samuel Snail convinces him to take one last look around, Sidney discovers he’s been missing amazing things all along.

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What’s At The End Of Your Nose?

By Becky Benishek. Illustrated by Kelly Cline.
Copyright 2016 Becky Benishek

One day, Sidney Snail woke up bored. Very bored.

“Nothing fun ever happens in Slipperyville,” he grumbled to himself.

Sidney left his log home and climbed up on a mushroom to see what he could see.

And he sighed.

“What’s the sigh for?” came a voice from just above him. It was his best friend, Old Samuel Snail, sitting on his own mushroom. But Old Samuel looked much happier than Sidney.

“It’s so dull here,” said Sidney. “I wish I could have an adventure.”

“An adventure, eh?” said Old Samuel. “Well, let’s see . . .”

Samuel_Sidney_WhatsattheEndofYourNose
Now, Old Samuel had been bitten by the Traveling Bug when he was Young Samuel Snail, and had done a lot of adventuring before settling down in Slipperyville.

So Old Samuel should understand, thought Sidney.

Instead, Old Samuel said something very strange. “You can leave any old time. But it’s always wise to find out what’s at the end of your nose first.”

“What’s at the end of my nose?” Sidney asked.

“Exactly!” said Old Samuel.

Sidney didn’t think that made any sense, but Old Samuel only smiled.

“Why don’t you look around one last time before you set off for places unknown?” Old Samuel suggested.

“I guess I could,” said Sidney. “See you later, Old Samuel.”

02_Sidneyleaves Sidney made his way to the river bank. The sun was shining and it was already a beautiful day in Slipperyville, but Sidney kept his head down and didn’t even notice.

He found a thick leaf next to the shore and halfheartedly pushed himself out into the river.

“This is silly,” he said. “The same boring old river with the same old—”

Bump. His leaf had crashed into a big pile of floating leaves.

“Just great,” Sidney said in disgust. “Now I’m stuck.”

But wait, what was that? Sticking straight up out of one of those leaves was something Sidney had never seen before. It looked like a spider web spun into a delicate, white, airy bowl. Even Sidney had to admit that it looked pretty.

Then he noticed that it was full of dew.

“Wait a minute, I know what this is,” Sidney said. “It’s a Brella! But . . . what does it do?”