[1] On a smooth black rock by the docks lives a flock of sea snails, of which one longs to see the big, wide world; a feeling her rock-bound compatriots cannot understand.

After she writes an advert for a "lift wanted around the world" using her snail trail, a kind humpback whale arrives one moonlit night and offers to take her along on his travels.

The aquatic duo see many sights along their way until one sunny summer's morning, the humpback whale, confused by the sound of a group of racing speedboats, swims into a bay and is left beached by the retreating tide.

The school's children and teacher immediately fetch the emergency services, and the local people and fire department help to keep the abandoned whale wet until the tide finally turns.

The Snail and the Whale was adapted for the stage by the theatre company Tall Stories in 2012, and has been on tour around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.