NO MORE PLASTIC

Angered by the death of a whale, beached on the ocean shore she loves, Isley finds a constructive response.

When Isley learns that the dead right whale had starved from filling its stomach with plastic trash instead of whale food, she is devastated. Her first reaction is believably childlike—a tantrum. She stomps, she kicks, she screams: “NO MORE PLASTIC.” But she channels her distress into action, refusing plastic in all its forms and encouraging her neighbors to do the same. Although they forget about the whale eventually, returning to old habits, Isley continues to pick up plastic trash on the beach. With the mountain she’s collected, she builds a full-sized whale sculpture, an unavoidable reminder that changes behaviors in her community. Like Isley with her construction, author/illustrator Fullerton has created her illustrations from “repurposed plastic, sand, and moss.” Among the best of the recent books about ocean plastic thanks to its positive approach and practical suggestions included at the end, this title would work well as a group read-aloud. The narrative is full of sounds: lapping wave sounds begin and end the story, but there are also sea gulls’ squawks, whales’ songs, and a quiet nighthawk’s call. The target audience will be slightly younger than that for Susan Hood’s The Last Straw (2021), which has more substantive backmatter. The setting is Prince Edward Island; the protagonist presents White.

A gentle, effective presentation of an environmental disaster.