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A review by backonthealex
The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond
4.0
This is really a reread that's been read over and over by my young readers.
Once upon a time...
a young boy takes a book off a shelf, and, lying on his bed wearing a red crown that looks suspiciously like those tissue paper crowns that come in Christmas crackers, he begins to read a book called The Blue Whale. And so do we...
Desmond's lovely meta-fiction picture book introduces readers to the magnificence of "the largest living creature on our planet," the blue whale, through factual information, comparisons, and stunning illustrations. Using simple and direct language, readers learn, for example, that the world's largest creature has a big 1,300 pound heart, actually the size of a small car; that blue whales can weight as much as 160 tons, about the same as 55 hippopotami.
A blue whale's anatomy would, of course, require it to be proportional to its size, and thus, it has a 6" eye, a 3 ton tongue, and a mouth so big 50 people could stand inside it. Not surprisingly, a full grown whale eats four tons of food per day, mainly krill, a shrimp-like sea creature. A baby blue whale can drink up to 50 gallons of its mother's milk everyday.
Desmond's text is only half the story, and her beautiful illustrations tell the rest of the tale. Done in a combination of collage, paint and color pencil, with a palette of predominantly ocean-worthy blues and whites, they offer readers an interesting mixture of realistic and imaginative images.
Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning of the book to better understand what she is trying to do with this book. There's lots more information throughout The Blue Whale, just waiting for a curious child to come along and begin reading.
Once upon a time...
a young boy takes a book off a shelf, and, lying on his bed wearing a red crown that looks suspiciously like those tissue paper crowns that come in Christmas crackers, he begins to read a book called The Blue Whale. And so do we...
Desmond's lovely meta-fiction picture book introduces readers to the magnificence of "the largest living creature on our planet," the blue whale, through factual information, comparisons, and stunning illustrations. Using simple and direct language, readers learn, for example, that the world's largest creature has a big 1,300 pound heart, actually the size of a small car; that blue whales can weight as much as 160 tons, about the same as 55 hippopotami.
A blue whale's anatomy would, of course, require it to be proportional to its size, and thus, it has a 6" eye, a 3 ton tongue, and a mouth so big 50 people could stand inside it. Not surprisingly, a full grown whale eats four tons of food per day, mainly krill, a shrimp-like sea creature. A baby blue whale can drink up to 50 gallons of its mother's milk everyday.
Desmond's text is only half the story, and her beautiful illustrations tell the rest of the tale. Done in a combination of collage, paint and color pencil, with a palette of predominantly ocean-worthy blues and whites, they offer readers an interesting mixture of realistic and imaginative images.
Be sure to read the Author's Note at the beginning of the book to better understand what she is trying to do with this book. There's lots more information throughout The Blue Whale, just waiting for a curious child to come along and begin reading.