The Whales' Song

by Dyan Sheldon

Book Overview

Lily's grandmother tells her all about the mysterious whales out in the bay, and Lily longs to hear their magical song. Gary Blythe's richly evocative artwork creates an incredibly atmospheric world... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803709722
• ISBN13: 9780803709720
• Release Date: May 1991
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 11.7" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Imaginative, Beautiful, Appealing

I love reading this story to children at the Seattle Aquarium, and inserting their names at the pivotal points as the whales call out. This is a vivid story with beautiful illustrations. The story appeals to all young children, and especially little girls, as they relate to the main character. Sheldon introduces some gentle reminders of caring for whales for more than their meat, and then poetically and imaginatively shows us what it means to be friends with the whale. This is a story filled with magical realism, and I highly recommend it for ages 3 through 7.

Beautiful, loving story, exceptional paintings.

As a homeschooling parent I read this book with my children as we were doing a unit study on sound.Whales have a the ability to make a much higher pitched sound than the human ear can hear. It is their song, or communicating which facinates us.This book offers magnificent and realistic paintings which will delight your eyes as well as your heart.The grandmother tells of the whales, is it real or fantasy? All the while a great uncle so blatently informs the little girl what whales were used for in the past.As we know, whales have much larger brains then ours- who is to say they would not sing for a kind gesture from a loving stranger?This book has found a special place in our home library, I hope it will for you or someone you love as well.

Beatriz and Constantin's review

When we first read this book, we played the sound of the whales for our 7 year old son Constantin, so he could relate to the story and its magic. The illustrations are beautiful and very powerful. This book also presents a lovely relationship between a little girl and her grandmother, both of them dreamers and believers who disregard whoever makes fun of them and their ideas. We read this book in Spanish and liked it so much that ordered it in English.

An exquisite picture book.

"Once upon a time... the ocean was filled with whales. They were as big as the hills. They were as peaceful as the moon." So begins Lilly's grandmother, who goes on to tell her young granddaughter about a time not all that long ago, when she was a girl herself... a time when whales still sang and danced in the ocean.In the length of a picture story, author Dyan Sheldon has succeeded in creating a haunting, unforgettable glimpse into a future that might come to be. She makes our hearts ache for a loss we haven't realized yet. Her poetic, evocative text delivers a powerful message, yet is never preachy. Equally powerful are the stunning oil paintings of illustrator Gary Blythe. His Lilly is so astonishingly real, one can almost feel the warmth of her cheeks, the softness of her dark curls, the breath from her lips as she sleeps open-mouthed in moonlight. Blythe is equally at home depicting a convincingly detailed and cluttered sitting room, as he is offering a lonely beach occupied only by a single sea shell. The Whales' Song is a power house of a book for all ages - an absolute gem.

A beautiful,peaceful story.

The paintings in this book are luminous. They make the child believe there is wonder in the world. I think this book can be enjoyed by young children. My daughter is two, and she loves it. She is quite moved by the paintings.