Most snail shells have a spiral only on the right—the left is more of a “behind-the-scenes business end”, as illustrator Giselle Clarkson puts it. Picture the bottom of a bread roll, or an outfit that looks great from the front—but at the back, it’s nipped and tucked with safety pins. “The back of the snail is like that, where everything is kind of cinched into place to make the front look amazing.”
In picture books, movement usually travels from left to right across the page. This means the less-fancy side of snails has largely been wiped from the canon. But Clarkson snuck a snail “butt” into her 2021 book The Tiny Woman’s Coat—and we decided to show you one that didn’t quite make it into her ‘Just So’ cartoons on handedness and chirality. Our apologies to the snail, who is slightly mortified to be showing you his not-so-swish side.