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Whale Shines: An Artistic Tail
Author:
Robinson, Fiona
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Class:
Easy
Age: 5-8
Language: English
Descriptors: Picture Book
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LC: PZ7.R565
Grade: K-3
Print Run: 10000
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ISBN-13: 9781419708480
LCCN: 2012042806
Imprint: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Abrams
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Pub Date: 11/05/2013
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $18.95
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 25 x 31 cm
H 12.5",
W 10",
D 0.5",
1.25 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Children
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews
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Starred Reviews:
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Publishers Weekly
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TIPS Subjects:
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Fish
Art
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BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Marine Life
JUVENILE FICTION / Art
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LC Subjects:
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Ability, Fiction
Ability, Juvenile fiction
Artists, Fiction
Artists, Juvenile fiction
Individuality, Fiction
Individuality, Juvenile fiction
Marine animals, Fiction
Marine animals, Juvenile fiction
Whales, Fiction
Whales, Juvenile fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Ability, Fiction
Artists, Fiction
Individuality, Fiction
Marine animals, Fiction
Whales, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
2.8
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Points: 0.5
Lexile Level:
460
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles | 01/01/2014 |
| Advertising the upcoming art show with a sign around his neck for his fellow sea creatures isn't nearly as fun as participating in the show could be. Whale feels left out when he realizes he has no artistic talent of his own. It takes a chance meeting with bioluminescent plankton to finally show Whale the talent he's been missing all along. 32pp., Color Ill. |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Publishers Weekly | 09/30/2013 |
| Ages 4-8. Whale, who makes Eeyore look positively effervescent, has been hired to serve as a cetacean billboard calling for entries to "The Hugest Art Show in the Deep & Briny." Everyone from Eel to Wrasse takes up the challenge with the avidity of RISD students on Red Bull ("I'll use these corals as part of my living sculpture at the art show. The audience will love it!" exclaims Wrasse) while Whale looks on with envy: "I wish I could make something too, but I'm just in advertising." What Whale needs is a muse, and he gets a bunch of them in the form of bioluminescent phytoplankton, who help him create a performance piece that becomes a sensation. At its core, Robinson's (What Animals Really Like) story is a tried and true tale of a wallflower realizing his potential. But her understated, offbeat voice and visuals--a mashup of classicism and graphic novel sensibilities--makes this a standout: up-to-the-minute modern in its irreverence and offhandedness, yet timeless in its understanding of a character's yearning. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. (Nov.). 32p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 12/01/2013 |
| R. 6-9 yrs. Everything under the sea is excitedly preparing for the upcoming art show curated by Mr. Jackson Pollock-everything, that is, except the whale who's swimming through the deeps as essentially a moving billboard for the festivities ("I'm just in advertising," he says sadly). Encouragement from the plankton that's usually the whale's food leads to an interesting collaboration (motion from the whale's flippers and tail makes the bioluminescent plankton glow) that gains a theme when the whale realizes that most marine life never gets to see the beauty of a starry night sky; the resulting Van Gogh-reminiscent performance piece wows the underwater world. The spirited and slightly goofy dialogue (most of the text is in speech bubbles) adds zing to a fairly familiar plot of a creativity breakthrough, and kids will particularly appreciate the breezy treatment of the whale and plankton's relationship ("Please go away before I eat you," says the piqued whale). The watercolor and pencil art makes excellent use of the spreads' wide horizontality; while the art projects and, indeed, the underwater world are on the literal side for such an artistic-themed story, there's a murky charm to life in the briny deep. The story is amusing, but what's particularly appealing here is the casual inclusion of a wide variety of approaches to art, making this an entertaining lead-in to art projects, especially those involving the natural world. DS. 32p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2013. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 11/01/2014 |
| 3. Sullenly carrying a sign for the upcoming art show, Whale is envious of the others' projects (e.g., ink-producing Octopus's painting) but lacks the inspiration and confidence ("I'm just in advertising") to give art a go himself. Then, with some encouragement from an unlikely source, a brilliant idea is born. A thoughtful celebration of creativity marked by Robinson's clever storytelling, textually and visually. keh. 32pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 10/01/2013 |
| In a calm and color-shifting ocean, a whale becomes an artist. At first, the sea looks almost empty, made of soft, horizontal stripes in greens and blues. A whale arrives, wearing a poster: "Call for entries! The hugest art show in the deep and briny. Curated by Mr. Jackson Pollock." A wrasse creates living sculpture with coral; a shark drapes fishing floats over an anchor. Whale sulks ("I wish I could make something too, but I'm just in advertising") until encouragement arrives from an unlikely source. Some plankton pipe up with support, undeterred by Whale's biologically sensible threat--"go away before I eat you!" Grumpy Whale swims away, inadvertently lighting up the plankton, who are bioluminescent; they glow when his tail swishes them. Now Whale has a medium; what's his subject? Bursting through the ocean's surface for air, he observes something his friends only ever see "through a dulling veil of water": the sky. His undersea plankton painting will be Starry Night (a la Van Gogh). Robinson's placid watercolor ocean alters shade on every page and horizontal panel, employing myriad blues and greens; her sharp contrasts between light and dark are beautiful. Her pencil drawings are friendly, though the octopus and squid are somewhat stuffed animal-like. At this art show in the deep, the deepest aspect is the conveyance of celestial views to an underwater audience. (Picture book. 3-7). 32pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013. |
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| School Library Journal | 10/01/2013 |
| K-Gr 5. A big art show is coming up and Whale laments his lack of talent. Unlike Squid, he has no ink to print with; unlike Eel, he cannot make lulling patterns. Thoughtfully designed in landscape, the story of the young artist unfolds, "Once upon a tide...." Whale, small and solo, is swimming under the surface of the sea, encompassing two pages painted in the most serene horizontal lines of watercolor-melded greens and blues. The painterly sensibility; the use of horizontal panel layouts across a spread; the cinematic close-up of the bioluminescent plankton reflected in Whale's eye; the nuanced use of pencil to add texture to sea and sky; and the glow of the deeply saturated palette all deepen characterization of the sea creatures and develop a sense of place. The horizon line itself plays a special role. It is a line only Whale can breach, where he finds his unique perspective. Speech bubbles and puns add a sense of levity, as do the campy creatures and their artwork, including the curator, "Mr. Jackson Pollock." When Whale emerges above the horizon line, "basking in the glow of the moon...and the starry night," he finds his true artistic gift: "Such a shame that the other sea creatures never get to see what I see." Children will embrace and understand the sincere, undervalued message of art as substantive and a way to "share one's world." This inspiring tale of artistic collaboration between the whale and bioluminescent plankton will be shared again and again. Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City. 32p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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9781419708480,dl.it[0].title
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