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Sharing a Shell
The tiny hermit crab loves his new shell. He doesn`t want to share it -- not with a blobby purple anenome and a tickly bristleworm. But life in the rock pool proves tougher than Crab thinks, and soon he finds he needs his new housemates in this rollicking story of sea, shells and friendship.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
19 people are currently reading
513 people want to read
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,204 books1,840 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
August 29, 2022
With her 2004 picture book Sharing a Shell British children's author Julia Donaldson has a hermit crab busily searching on the beach and in tidal pools for a new home as his/her older abode is no longer big enough. And upon finding a new and suitably spacious shell in which to live, a sea anemone comes along and asks to share the hermit crab's new place of residence with the promise to protect the crab (and of course also the shell) from predators, and then a passing bristleworm also asks, offering to keep the shell clean ad tidy in return (and with the crab quite readily agreeing to basically having two permanent roommates). But after a period of time a bigger shell is once again needed, and while at first the hermit carb, sea anemone and bristleworm squabble amongst themselves and end up going their separate ways, at the end of Sharing a Shell, the bristleworm finds a new and larger shell, and crab, sea anemone and bristleworm once again move in together.
Now of course, Julia Donaldson's text for Sharing a Shell is not really scientifically realistic with regard to how hermit crabs find their shells (although it is indeed true that both sea anemones and bristleworms often do reside with hermit crabs in a symbiotic relationship, and in my humble opinion, I think it would make Sharing a Shell a bit better and also more interesting if Julia Donaldson would provide a short author's note to that effect). But no, I am also and definitely not in any way insinuating that Sharing a Shell absolutely requires such an author's note. For yes and truly, Donaldson's rhyming text for Sharing a Shell is first and foremost fun, rollicking, song-like and delightfully provides an entertaining and brightly, colourfully illustrated by Lydia Monks story that provides for young children a great lesson regarding the importance of sharing and being good neighbours but without this ever feeling annoyingly didactic and patronising, and leaving in particular my inner child (even though I originally was kind of expecting considerably more realism in Sharing a Shell) broadly smiling and considering both Julia Donaldson's story and Lydia Monks' artwork sweetly fun and highly recommended to and for young children from about the age of three to six.
Now of course, Julia Donaldson's text for Sharing a Shell is not really scientifically realistic with regard to how hermit crabs find their shells (although it is indeed true that both sea anemones and bristleworms often do reside with hermit crabs in a symbiotic relationship, and in my humble opinion, I think it would make Sharing a Shell a bit better and also more interesting if Julia Donaldson would provide a short author's note to that effect). But no, I am also and definitely not in any way insinuating that Sharing a Shell absolutely requires such an author's note. For yes and truly, Donaldson's rhyming text for Sharing a Shell is first and foremost fun, rollicking, song-like and delightfully provides an entertaining and brightly, colourfully illustrated by Lydia Monks story that provides for young children a great lesson regarding the importance of sharing and being good neighbours but without this ever feeling annoyingly didactic and patronising, and leaving in particular my inner child (even though I originally was kind of expecting considerably more realism in Sharing a Shell) broadly smiling and considering both Julia Donaldson's story and Lydia Monks' artwork sweetly fun and highly recommended to and for young children from about the age of three to six.
June 22, 2015
Former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson is basically the goddess of wordsmithery, as far as I can tell. She's most famous for creating The Gruffalo with Axel Scheffler but has also written about a billion Oxford Learning Tree early readers and a number of lovely books with illustrator Lydia Monks.
Sharing A Shell tells the story of three rock pool creatures who share a shell and overcome their differences to live in harmony for the greater good. It has some lovely lessons about tolerance and sharing, two qualities which, as we all know, come as second nature to toddlers.
Julia Donaldson's cadence, story and rhyming are just sublime and Lydia Monks' illustrations are beautiful. Together they form a book which has masses of re-read value. Which is handy, because some days I find myself reading this book eight or nine times.
Sharing A Shell tells the story of three rock pool creatures who share a shell and overcome their differences to live in harmony for the greater good. It has some lovely lessons about tolerance and sharing, two qualities which, as we all know, come as second nature to toddlers.
Julia Donaldson's cadence, story and rhyming are just sublime and Lydia Monks' illustrations are beautiful. Together they form a book which has masses of re-read value. Which is handy, because some days I find myself reading this book eight or nine times.
December 21, 2010
Violent cannibalistic adventure featuring three rootless wanderers drifting from one temporary abode to another, constantly menaced by vast predatory monsters.
The thing that gets me every time with this story, is that as I read it (probably twice every day in a somewhat singsong style), Crab falls out with the other two because they are too *heavy*, but clearly that isn't the case because later on all three get back together in a bigger shell and there are no weight related issues. They had simply grown too big. Rationally one should overlook these things, but as a stickler for internal consistency it grates somewhat.
The thing that gets me every time with this story, is that as I read it (probably twice every day in a somewhat singsong style), Crab falls out with the other two because they are too *heavy*, but clearly that isn't the case because later on all three get back together in a bigger shell and there are no weight related issues. They had simply grown too big. Rationally one should overlook these things, but as a stickler for internal consistency it grates somewhat.
September 3, 2015
Sharing a Shell starts with a crab searching for a new home as he has outgrown his current one. Upon finding a new shell and moving in a worm asks if he can move in with him and he offers to keep the shell clean in return, to which the crab agrees. Next an anemone moves in with the promise to protect the crab and worm from enemies. Soon the three characters outgrow the shell and argue leading to them going their separate ways. However, a storm occurs and the worm finds a bigger shell to accommodate them all and they soon move back in together.
The book explores friendships and relationships, of how the characters can co-operate with each other to make a lovely place to live even though they are not the same species. This can be expanded upon to explore the different communities children live in and how/if they work to make a nice environment to live in. Sharing a Shell also highlights the importance of each character, as without each other they are lonely and the shell will be dirty, at risk and unable to move around. Children can then expand on this to see what jobs there are within the UK and the World over and how they assist the people who live there.
Sharing a Shell uses rhyme to tell the story, this allows for children to explore the world of rhyme and start to look at how to use it themselves in writing. Also, the child can discover what makes words rhyme including the phonic sounds heard in the word. Sharing a Shell is a brightly and well illustrated book, having a lovely story of friendship which leads children (and adults) to read it over and over again.
The book explores friendships and relationships, of how the characters can co-operate with each other to make a lovely place to live even though they are not the same species. This can be expanded upon to explore the different communities children live in and how/if they work to make a nice environment to live in. Sharing a Shell also highlights the importance of each character, as without each other they are lonely and the shell will be dirty, at risk and unable to move around. Children can then expand on this to see what jobs there are within the UK and the World over and how they assist the people who live there.
Sharing a Shell uses rhyme to tell the story, this allows for children to explore the world of rhyme and start to look at how to use it themselves in writing. Also, the child can discover what makes words rhyme including the phonic sounds heard in the word. Sharing a Shell is a brightly and well illustrated book, having a lovely story of friendship which leads children (and adults) to read it over and over again.
October 17, 2020
Paylaşım üzerine hoş, tekerlemeli bir hikaye. Küçük bir yaşam dersi içeriyor ve çizimler de fena değil. Gene de ufaklığın diğer favori kitapları arasında ikincil rolde hala. Bunu sebebi sanırım anlatılan deniz canlılarının kendi yaşamında herhangi bir gerçekliği olmaması, ne olduklarının tam anlaşılamaması ve dolayısıyla onlarla çok da bir bağ kurulamaması.
August 10, 2015
Read this to my infant daughter.
A clever rhyming tale about the value of friendship & sharing. Lydia Monk's vibrant illustrations are sublime, captivating the interest of young & old readers alike.
A clever rhyming tale about the value of friendship & sharing. Lydia Monk's vibrant illustrations are sublime, captivating the interest of young & old readers alike.
December 16, 2024
Julia Donaldson doesn’t disappoint- this lovely story about friendship and compromise tells a tale of sea creatures which discover that being without your friends can be sad and lonely… so it’s much better to share and enjoy each other’s company. Sparkly, sensory illustrations catch the eye and the words rhyme making reading this story pacy and exciting.
July 29, 2022
4,5 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
Recencie volgt later.
Recencie volgt later.
October 22, 2022
I loved this book. It was a nice story about sharing with friends.
April 2, 2025
Sınav haftasında yapabildiğim tek şey; ✨ çocuk kitabı okumak ✨
September 25, 2021
Sharing a Shell is a lovely story about a hermit crab who when he finds a nice new shell decides he doesn't want to share it with his friends but soon discovers it is a lot easier when you're friends are there to help you.
This is a great book that shows the ups and downs friendships can have but still shows that there's always a way to work through problems. With sharing being difficult for children it is lovely how we get to see the crab facing the consequences of his decisions not to share and the children got to think about what they thought was the right thing for crab to do.
The illustrations are bright and eye catching for the children and they loved the glittery look and feel to the pictures. It was nice to have a story based underwater for a change and good for them to learn about what crabs two friends are as not all of the children had seen that type from creature before.
This is a brilliant book that shows how friendships and sharing can be difficult but there's always a way to get through the problems, especially with friends by your side!
This is a great book that shows the ups and downs friendships can have but still shows that there's always a way to work through problems. With sharing being difficult for children it is lovely how we get to see the crab facing the consequences of his decisions not to share and the children got to think about what they thought was the right thing for crab to do.
The illustrations are bright and eye catching for the children and they loved the glittery look and feel to the pictures. It was nice to have a story based underwater for a change and good for them to learn about what crabs two friends are as not all of the children had seen that type from creature before.
This is a brilliant book that shows how friendships and sharing can be difficult but there's always a way to get through the problems, especially with friends by your side!
April 1, 2012
This book can be used as a great starting point in getting children to think about the topic of sharing. With bright, beautiful illustrations that are great to touch as they are covered in glitter, young children will enjoy engaging with this book. A little crab is looking for someone to share a shell with, but no one wants to share their shell with the crab. Eventually, crab finds a shell and scuttles inside, but along comes anemone who just like crab needs a shell. Crab quickly offers to share his shell with the anemone and they become friends. Not long after along comes the brush thing, also needing a shell to share. He joins crab and the anemone and they all live in one shell, working together, until one day the shell is no longer big enough for them all. They all go their separate ways and soon they begin to feel lonely and sad, until eventually they find a new, bigger shell that they can all share. A delightful, rhyming story book that is ideal for the early years.
February 7, 2013
Ah this book was a pleasure to read my Year 1's for their story time today.
The cover gave a great starting discussion with the pupils, stimulating their imagination and comprehension. The "bristleworm" was given many names before we started the book.
I struggled with the word "anemone" a tongue twister for me but he was called the purple blob so made life easier for me.
This book allowed me to relate to their own experiences of arguing with friends, going their own separate ways, feeling sad and lonely and then making friends. It allowed me to really highlight the importance of sharing and being nice together which all the pupils got this message at the end.
And the pupils were amazed at the pictures too!
Another thoroughly great read. Recommended for Year 1!
The cover gave a great starting discussion with the pupils, stimulating their imagination and comprehension. The "bristleworm" was given many names before we started the book.
I struggled with the word "anemone" a tongue twister for me but he was called the purple blob so made life easier for me.
This book allowed me to relate to their own experiences of arguing with friends, going their own separate ways, feeling sad and lonely and then making friends. It allowed me to really highlight the importance of sharing and being nice together which all the pupils got this message at the end.
And the pupils were amazed at the pictures too!
Another thoroughly great read. Recommended for Year 1!
Read
June 22, 2012This tale about a little hermit crab, a blobby purple anemone and a tickly bristleworm would brighten up your day. The illustrations and glitter on every page just jump right at you. It's a lovely tale about not sharing and going their separate ways, however neither of the two are happy, they're extremely lonely. A storm occurs and they both head off in search of a shell to shelter them and end up at the same shell and decided to share it. Fantastic, colourful story suitable for early years or key stage 1 children, could be simply an end of day story or it could be linked to various topics like sharing or an under the sea topic.
December 31, 2017
5 yildiz ama Turkce cevirisi icin bence 4 yildiz belki de cok beklenti icine sokuldugumdan yargimin agirlasmasi sonucu olabilir. Bilemiyorum. Ancak cocuk kitabi olmasina ramen Turkce’si cok agir cevirilmis. Aslinda kafiyeler yapilmaya calisilmissa da akicilik yok. Bu nedenle cocugun takibini zorlastirabilir.
Yine de hem paylasim hem de arabuluculukla ilgili cok guzel bir konu islenmis. Alip cocugunuza siz okuyabilirsiniz. 3-4 yas araligindan 1. Sinifa dek bu kitap alinabilir. Turkcesi icin, siz okursaniz daha iyi olacagindan, 4-5-6 yaslar icin oneririm. Sonra kitapliginda kalabilir ve artik hikayeyi bildigjnden anlamina yogunlasabilmek icin zaman zaman kendisi yatmadan once okumalarina dahil edebilir.
Sevgiler.
Yine de hem paylasim hem de arabuluculukla ilgili cok guzel bir konu islenmis. Alip cocugunuza siz okuyabilirsiniz. 3-4 yas araligindan 1. Sinifa dek bu kitap alinabilir. Turkcesi icin, siz okursaniz daha iyi olacagindan, 4-5-6 yaslar icin oneririm. Sonra kitapliginda kalabilir ve artik hikayeyi bildigjnden anlamina yogunlasabilmek icin zaman zaman kendisi yatmadan once okumalarina dahil edebilir.
Sevgiler.
June 28, 2020
Sharing shell is a story about a crab who finds a new shiny shell but doesn't want to share it with an anemone and a bristle worm. I find this book amazing because it has rhyming words can help them investigate the rhyming patterns on each page in the book, they can retell the story from the viewpoint of the crab and with science it helped me create activities for the children about habitats, down at the seaside e.g beach, rock-pool and the ocean, showing food chains with the animals in the story and getting the children to write a fact file about an animal from the book. This story highlights friendships and helping one another. I love the bright illustrations that also have different textures on the pages. I recommended this story as it can be used for a multiple range of key stages.
September 5, 2017
You know you’re in for a treat when a book has a glittery front cover and ‘Sharing A Shell’ by Julia Donaldson doesn’t disappoint. With the lyrical and rhythmic verse we come to expect from her popular picture books, she tells a tale of friendship and collaboration. After finding a shell and teaming up with an anemone and a bristleworm, crab learns that when faced with the challenges a stormy sea throws at him he is better off with his new friends than on his own.
Read the full review here: https://redwaybooks.wordpress.com/201...
Read the full review here: https://redwaybooks.wordpress.com/201...
September 17, 2020
Another brilliant book from the children's literacy hero of the 2000s, Julia Donaldson. My children have a vast collection of Julia's books and love every single one of them, and I can see why. With colourful and bold illustrations, sing-song rhythm and rhyme, this book is a giggle to read. It is about three creatures living by the sea in a rock-pool who struggle to share their living spaces. Eventually they realise life is better when they are kind to each other and value each other's strengths, so a nice moral, as always. What's not to like about this book?!
February 17, 2021
Sharing a shell is a brightly illustrated story highlighting themes of sharing, friendship and recognising your individual strengths and characteristics. The story captured the reception class I read this to and we started to discuss sharing and kindness in friendship. The characters the story introduces shows that everyone is individual and when working as a team a lot can be achieved.
An art activity for early years included creating our own shells on black paper with chalk. Learning how to create a spiral for the shell and blend different colours to create a unique shell.
An art activity for early years included creating our own shells on black paper with chalk. Learning how to create a spiral for the shell and blend different colours to create a unique shell.
October 3, 2020
Another beautifully illustrated Julia Donaldson story about being kind and sharing. Sea creatures sharing a shell and all having a part to play, but the shell gets to small. Great for prompting discussion in the classroom about sharing, friendships and being kind. Would be useful for personal social and emotional development for EYFS children.
Read
May 4, 2021this book is perfect to read to younger children in KS1. Each page is filled with colour and the illustrations are mesmerising. the pictures take up most of each page, which is good because there isn't much text, therefore perfect for younger children as they usually love to look at the pictures rather than the actual text.
November 30, 2018
A beautifully illustrated story book with glitter detailing on each page. This is a story about a snail in search of a new shell, along with the help of a few friends along the way. The book could be used as an example of conflict resolution between friends, despite their many differences.
June 27, 2019
A hermit crab is in search of a shiny shell and when he finds the perfect one, he does not want to share it with anemone or bristleworm. Told with Donaldson's trademark rhyme and wit, this encourages children that it's better to share than be shellfish (sorry).
August 19, 2019
Suitable for younger KS1 children.
Explores themes of sharing, teamwork and helping each other.
The 'tickly bristleworm' is a great depiction of disagreement resolution and emotional awareness.
The book features lovely sparkly and brightly coloured drawings, as well as different textures.
Explores themes of sharing, teamwork and helping each other.
The 'tickly bristleworm' is a great depiction of disagreement resolution and emotional awareness.
The book features lovely sparkly and brightly coloured drawings, as well as different textures.
December 21, 2019
I think this is a great book, especially for KS1 as they are learning about the concept of sharing and often find their friendships falling apart because they are not able to share. This is a great way to show what sharing can really do.
November 3, 2017
Great for promoting sharing and teamwork.
September 19, 2018
Rhyming, great art, lovely, short, little story.
January 3, 2019
A nice idea and I like how little ones can learn about bristle worms and anemones through it.
January 2, 2019
High quality language, exploring themes of friendship, sharing and working together as a team
May 27, 2019
A nice story on symbiosis.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews