When you open this book you will see a lighthouse on the title page. You may already know I adore lighthouses of course this book is not really about lighthouses but this is where the story begins and perhaps where the small child lives.
"Where land becomes sky and the sky becomes sea, I first saw the whale ... and the whale first saw me."
The whale invites the child to come on a journey. The pair have a glorious time diving deep into the ocean and exploring icy land until the whale shows the child the ocean is filled with our waste.
"I stared at the whale as he stared back at me - I understood now what he'd brought me to see."
Now that the child has seen the problems we have created is it time for action.
"I gazed in his eyes as I stood on the sand, and I made him a promise to tell the whole land the tale of the whale and the plastic soup sea - you've heard the whale's story please change it with me."
I had not heard of the illustrator Padmacandra. On her site there is an extended video where the author and illustrator talk about their book. Padmacandra grew up in Scotland, lives in Norfolk and graduated from the Cambridge School of Art. She is a Buddhist, poet and artist and currently works part-time as a carer. (UQP). The tale of the Whale is a debut picture book for Karen Swann. She lives in the UK. This book is due for release on 4th May this year. Karen has lots of craft ideas to use with this book.
Here are a set of teachers notes from UQP. This book has beautiful illustrations, a carefully constructed rhyming text which will work well as a read aloud along with an important and urgent message for all of us. There are some lovely words in this text: rocking-horse sea; dolphins that waltzed; carpets of colours; and the soup of the ocean.
This book would be an excellent text to share with young children as part of a topic on care of our environment and environmental activism. I would pair this book with these:
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