Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Reading Time
    • Home
    • Reviews
      • Highly Recommended
      • CBCA Short Listed
      • Early Childhood Books
      • Younger Readers
      • Intermediate Readers
      • Older Readers
      • Great Read Alouds
      • Information Books
      • Picture Books
      • Professional Development
    • Interviews
    • Suggestions
    • News
    • Meet The Review Team
    • Contact Us
    Reading Time
    You are at:Home»Reviews»Highly Recommended»The Tale of the Whale

    The Tale of the Whale

    0
    By Admin on July 15, 2021 Highly Recommended, Picture Books, Reviews

    Karen Swann (text) and Padmacandra (illustrator), The Tale of the Whale, University of Queensland Press, March 2021, 32pp., RRP $31.40 (hbk), ISBN 9781912650491

    The Tale of the Whale is a beautiful picture book by two first time picture book makers. The text is simple and delightful – using rhyme and rhythm with strong effect. A child spies a whale who invites her along on a journey. Together they travel the ocean, seeing turtles and rays, dolphins and seagulls (one even follows along on the journey). Then the whale takes a deep dive and reveals the beauty and mystery of the sea floor. Next, he leaps out of the water and they sail on to visit the creatures of the arctic waters. But when the whale’s tummy rumbles, and he takes a deep draft of the ocean the girl sees all of the rubbish which he swallows with it.

    The middle spread of the book zooms in to the girl and whale eye to eye, set against his deep grey skin. This is a stark contrast to the blues and greens and golds of the rest of the book. But the girl is dressed brightly, and the close up expands her from a little thing, tossed and carried by the whale, to a full half page, clothed in a warning orange. There is so much in this one picture – eyes, mouths, tears, colour, and that gaze.

    There follows a catalogue of sea animals: A turtle in trouble, a gull in distress, and the rest. The deep blue sea reflects the sad return to shore. Then the girl promises to tell the tale and to ask others to help.

    The art in this book is beautiful throughout. There are lots of little and big things to discover in the pages on a second or third reading. The authors are British, and this is reflected in the illustrations in subtle ways. The cover is a beautiful spread featuring ice caps, polar bears and the whale himself stretching from cover to cover.

    The author and illustrator websites are worth investigating. Padmacandra’s portfolio illustrations demonstrate a range of illustration styles, and Karen Swann has some fun craft activities to go with the book.

    Highly recommended.

    Reviewed by Marita Thomson

    marine animals natural environment Ocean Water Pollution Whales

    Related Posts

    Battlefield

    The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow

    The Bush Birds

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Themes
    • Curriculum
    Action adventure Airplanes Alphabet Anxiety autism Bullying CBCA Awards Coming of age Dystopian emotions family fantasy friendship grief Historical humour magic Mystery Post apocalyptic Readers Cup reluctant readers school Sci-Fi series of books siblings Sport Starting school Teacher Notes
    ANZAC Australian animals Australian history Biography Culture & Diversity Disabilities First Nations Geography health Humanities mental health Poetry Reconciliation resilience Science STEM Stolen Generation sustainability Wordless books



    Recent Comments
    • Barbara on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    Recent Posts
    • Battlefield
    • The Calling of Jackdaw Hollow
    • The Bush Birds
    • Star of Anise
    • Spotlight Please…It’s Stevie Louise
    Recent Comments
    • Barbara on The Secret of Sapling Green
    • Cherie on Elephant Island
    • Patricia Tilton on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Jilanne Hoffmann on Freddy the Not-Teddy
    • Penelope Pratley on The Secret of Sapling Green
    © Copyright 2021 The Children’s Book Council of Australia - All rights reserved

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.