For the dreamers who find themselves travelling further and

more hopefully –and for Sheila–H.W.

A TEMPLAR BOOK

First published as Wonderful Life in the UK in 2007 by Templar Publishing, an imprint of The Templar Company plc, Pippbrook Mill, London Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1JE, UKwww.templarco.co.uk Copyright © 2007 by HELEN WARD

No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in aninformation retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011935921

ISBN 978-0-9829938-4-214 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Printed in Canada

Little Pickle Press LLCPO Box 983 Belvedere, CA 94920 www.littlepicklepress.com

.

Once upon a time there was an Ift called Snutt.

Like all Ifts, Snutt was an explorer. Unlike all Ifts, Snutt was a dreamer . . .

and for this reason Snutt travelled further, and more hopefully, than any other Ift.

.

One day, Snutt found a wonderful planet.

A very wonderful planet, with fields of cheerful tuffetills and delighted blossiblums,

euphoric florifors and sticky-footed flewimols –too flappy to make the usual notes,

too big to take the usual measurements,

Suddenly and strangely, and a long, long way from home, Snutt felt very, very lonely.

too wonderful for the head of a lone Ift.

because Snutt had no oneto share them with.

All the brilliant butterflings and fancy flewimols might as well

have been dull grey dustmouts,

But this was, as has already been said, a wonderful planet so,

unsurprisingly there were also astonishing coincidences . . .

For Snutt was not the only explorer far from home. There was also a Waft, lost for words and suddenly lonely.

The Ift and the Waft walked in almost the samedirection through the waving whishgrass.

They oooed . . .

and they aahhed in almost the same way.

They listened and they watched.

And after they had found the very last amazing new thing . . .

they looked at each other.

Snutt did what all Ifts do when they are very, very happy . . .

which was surprising . . .

but . . .

wonderful too . . .

like the universe and everything in it.

We print and distribute our materials in an environmentally-friendly manner, using recycled

paper, soy inks, and green packaging.

Our MissionLittle Pickle Press is dedicated to helping parents

and educators cultivate conscious, responsible little people by stimulating explorations of the meaningful topics of their generation through a variety of media,

technologies, and techniques.

Helen Ward has been writing and illustrating children’s books for over twenty years. She trained at the Brighton School of Art under

such well-known illustrators as Raymond Briggs, Justin Todd and John Vernon Lord and has accrued numerous awards and accolades for her work, including twice winning the prestigious

National Art Library Illustration Award.

Helen’s illustrations are renowned for their vitality and painstaking attention to detail, and this is never more in evidence than in the

fantastical, imaginative world she has created in Snutt the Ift, A Small but Significant Chapter in the Life of the Universe.

Helen Ward