Story text
Luca, a little snail with a shell covered in rainbow spots, feels self-conscious because he is different. He tries to hide his spots, but while helping others, he discovers their unique value and ultimately learns to accept himself.
Page 1
Sunlight filtered through the oak leaves, dappling the forest floor. The annual snail race was underway. All the snails carried steady, tan-colored shells. Only Luca's shell was different—it was dotted with rainbow spots, red like wild berries, blue like a babbling brook, yellow like dandelions. Luca pulled his head in, crawling slowly at the very back of the group. Suddenly, he heard a little squirrel named ChiChi calling from a branch: 'Look at that rainbow weirdo! He must be slow!' Luca instantly retreated into his shell. The colorful spots sparkled in the sunlight, but to him, they felt like the focus of everyone's laughter, and his heart ached.
Page 2
After the race, Luca quietly hid under the cap of a large mushroom. He gently touched his cool, hard shell and sighed softly: 'Oh, if only you were brown like everyone else.' He wished so much to be ordinary, to not be singled out, to not be called 'rainbow weirdo.' A gentle breeze blew, making the mushroom sway slightly, as if it too felt sorry for him. Luca decided he must find a way to change the color of his shell.
Page 3
Luca heard that rolling in the mud puddle under the pine tree could darken a shell's color. At the crack of dawn, he set off. He struggled to the edge of the mud puddle, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and rolled in. Sticky mud oozed down the grooves of his shell. 'Perfect! Now I'm just like everyone else!' Luca thought excitedly. He happily crawled toward the group of snails. But before he had gone far, the dew on the grass blades wet the mud, turning it into little brown rivulets that washed away, revealing the even brighter colored spots underneath. The little snails gathered around, exclaiming, 'Luca, you've got new patterns!' Luca hurriedly hid in the grass, secretly licking off the remaining mud. The spots only became more vibrant after the cleaning.
Page 4
Luca's mother learned of his troubles and brought him a large maple leaf. 'My child, if you really mind, perhaps you can use this to cover it for a while,' she said gently. Luca used his teeth to trim the leaf into a little cloak and found some spider silk to carefully fasten it onto his shell. The colorful spots were indeed hidden! Luca held his head high and joined the snails' berry-picking party. He had just stretched out his tentacles to reach for a red berry when a playful gust of wind blew, and the maple leaf cloak went 'whoosh,' flying up to the treetop. Everyone looked up at the fluttering leaf, then down at Luca's exposed rainbow shell, and suddenly fell silent. Luca was about to flee when a little snail named Lily whispered, 'Your shell... is prettier than the red berry.' But Luca was too nervous. Without looking back, he hurriedly crawled into a thick patch of ferns.
