THE TALE OF THE WHALE

A brown-skinned child has a whale of a time with a new friend, but not everything goes swimmingly.

The unnamed and ungendered child narrates the story, relating how they first spy the blue whale from the top of a lighthouse tower. Accepting the whale’s invitation—“I've so much to show you, if you'll come along”—the child mounts the smiling whale’s back, and the two set off “on the rocking-horse sea.” They happily frolic with various sea animals then descend to a shipwreck where a sunken treasure chest awaits; alas, only discarded plastic bottles are to be found inside the chest. Child and whale swim onward, enjoying colorful underwater vistas, until they reach Arctic waters. When the whale opens its mouth to feed and ingests a ton of discarded plastic, there is a touching moment when the creature seems to telepathically appeal to the child. “I understood now what he'd brought me to see,” says the chastened narrator who then enumerates some of the kinds of plastic trash that contribute to “the soup of the ocean.” A page turn reveals four wordless panels showing marine creatures entangled in debris. On the journey home, the narrator makes a bold promise to the whale. The lyrical text captures the joy of exploration and adds a meditative tone to the fanciful story. Poetic refrain is used effectively to underscore the emotional connection between the child and the concerned cetacean. Padmacandra’s textured crayon-and-ink illustrations add luminous depth to the moving tale and use gentle tones that temper the heavy message.

A heartfelt plea to change our wasteful ways.