The Storm Whale

"Replete with both peaceful charm and a sense of wonder, this is a selection children will embrace and come back to time and time again. (Picture book. 3-8)"

K-Gr 2--Noi lives by the sea with his father and six cats. His dad leaves early for work on his fishing boat and doesn't return until dark. Noi appears to be around six and is extremely lonely until the day he finds a small beached whale. Instead of trying to return it to the water, Noi hefts it into his wagon and puts it in his bathtub. He plays music for it and tells it stories. When his father returns, he discovers the whale, and together they return it to the sea. The man realizes how lonely his son has been, and on last pages, they are seen having a picnic together. The story will be confusing to the target audience. It would appear that the whale is an imaginary friend that Noi has conjured up to stave off his loneliness. Obviously, he would be physically incapable of moving a whale, no matter how small. However, if that's the case, it makes no sense that a father would take a small boy out on at night in a rowboat on choppy seas. The illustrations appear to be watercolor and have some of the charming details found in the work of Barbara Cooney, but this is an additional purchase.--Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Noi's father is a fisherman, and when he leaves early every morning, Noi knows "he wouldn't be home again till dark." But Noi's solitary life (with the exception of the family's six cats) ends when he discovers a baby whale washed up on the beach. He gives the whale a new home in his bathtub, plays it water-themed music (note the album of Handel's Water Music by the tub), and tells it "stories about life on the island. The whale was an excellent listener." The whale must go back to the sea, of course, but not before Noi's father steps outside his grueling routine and recognizes how much his son yearns for companionship. This is a lovely story of familial rapprochement in every respect; in his debut as author, illustrator Davies's (Railroad Hank) matter-of-fact but deeply empathic storytelling is matched by crisp, evocative scenes of coastal life, from the ramshackle, weathered home where Noi and his father live to the endless expanse of the ocean at night. There's no big finish or obvious lesson, but the message about the importance of being seen is difficult to miss. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.