The Tale of the Whale

Originally published in Great Britain, this lesson-oriented fantasy debut follows the kinship between a dark-haired, brown-skinned child and an expressive humpback whale, who encounter each other “where land becomes sky/ and sky becomes sea.” Gently undulating rhymes by Swann describe the duo cavorting with marine life, observing a shipwreck, and heading across a stunningly textured “ocean in motion” and then into tragedy: when the whale swallows up “the soup of the ocean” (a mass of discarded plastic and other refuse that distresses many creatures, including a turtle, a seagull, and a seal) the protagonist slowly realizes that beach cleanups are imperative. Padmacandra offers textural spreads in teals and peaches that conjure both the magic and human-created mess of the deep in this empathic first-person apologue. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)