'Bleak was the day and the wind whipped down, when I and my sisters walked to town...' So begins the story of three sisters and their wild and magical encounter with a whale, stranded on a beach. With illustrations full of light and movement, a powerful text that reads like a ballad, children and adults alike will be transported to beachside holidays of long ago, feel the wind in their hair and taste the salt spray, as the girls battle against huge odds to save something precious and vulnerable. The artwork moves from black and white to full colour and is expansive and nostalgic. Both author and illustrator are passionate about the natural world and environmental issues and see the book as a way to encourage others to care.
Sarah Brennan is Hong-Kong based and her 'Chinese Calendar Tales' regularly make the bestseller charts there. She is also a Writer Ambassador for Room to Read. Jane Tanner (illustrator) studied Printmaking and Painting and taught for several years before becoming a full-time illustrator, in 1984. She is well-loved in her native Australia and has won or been shortlisted for many prestigious awards there.
Title: The Storm Whale
Author: Brennan, Sarah
ISBN: 9781910646281
Binding:
Publisher: Old Barn Books
Publication Date: 2018-07-05
Number of Pages: 32
Weight: 0.5096 kg
This will appeal to fans of Bear Hunt, with its rhyming text and atmospheric illustrations. Landscape and form are evocatively depicted in this bitter-sweet tale of three girls finding a stranded whale. -- Sarah Donaldson
An absolute joy to read aloud, told in elegantly phrased rhyming couplets and with fantastic, rich illustrations throughout... powerfully brings home both the majesty and vulnerability of nature, and our place in it. (citation, Teach Primary Book Awards) -- Teach Primary Book Awards judges * Teach Reading and Writing magazine *
Storm Whale is an absolute masterpiece, gives me goosebumps, it's gorgeous lyrically and visually and makes me so proud to be a bookseller. -- Emily's Bookshop, Chipping Camden
(a) stunning and rather special picture book...The use of rhythm and alliteration and the choice of vocabulary convey the movement and sound of the sea and the wind so aptly that you do honestly start to feel that you are there alongside the girls... simply gorgeous. -- Anne Thompson * The Bookbag *
