SPECK

The overwhelming and exquisite journey of tiny ocean dwellers.

Meganck tells the story of tiny specks that begin life in a tide pool, make their way through open waters and currents of all kinds, and elude potential predators until they courageously find what they’ve been seeking. These powerful specks grow into barnacles that make their home on a blue whale. While readers are following these tiny life-forms, Meganck skillfully draws parallels between the human experience and the specks’ fraught yet important adventure: “Where big feels bigger, and small feels smaller. The safest thing to do is hide. But a hidden speck would miss out on the adventure, the wonder, and the satisfaction of finding exactly what they were looking for.” The stunning, vivid watercolors show the vastness of the watery world beneath our toes, like the sky full of stars above our heads. The sea creatures are drawn in vibrant detail, from the suckers on an octopus to a jellyfish’s tentacles. A colorful school of fish swirls and twists its way around the blue whale. The subtle and potent connection between us and these tiny specks makes for a poignant, reflective story that’s every bit as relevant to children as it is to adults. Meganck remarkably finds a way to make our great smallness in the wide world a convincing comfort.

Deeply moving.