The Whale

This book is a part of a wonderful series by Cynthia Rylant! I was struggling to find good read aloud chapter books to read to my girls (3 and 5) after picture books but before long books like Charlotte's Web. These are perfect for that in between time! The vocabulary is wonderful and the pictures are engaging. We read one short chapter each day. My girls woke up each morning asking to read from the books.

Pandora the cat; Seabold the dog; and Whistler, Lila, and Tiny, the orphaned mice, make-up the wonderful, Lighthouse Family. Together they live amongst each other in an old Lighthouse on the water, where they help to direct ships. However, one day Whistler and Lila hear the cries of a whale, a baby beluga whale named Sebastian, to be exact. Soon they have found that poor Sebastian has lost his Mother, and doesn't know where to find her. It's now up to Whistler and Lila, with the help of the rest of the Lighthouse Family, and a cranky old cormorant named Huck, to find Sebastian's Mother, and bring mama and baby together once again. In this wonderful, adorable new series by Cynthia Rylant, we are introduced to various wonderful new animal characters, who are sure to rival those found in classics such as THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. Each character is unique, and possesses his or her own quirks, yet they all share one thing in common, their love for each other, and caring nature. Filled with wonderful sketches by Preston McDaniels amongst almost every page, as well as a delightful plot that will please all young readers, THE WHALE is sure to be a hit. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This book is so cool! I love it. I like that there's a baby beluga in the book, and the cat and the dog and the mice. Because they keep the baby beluga company and they help him get home.

This book is wonderful for children who like to know facts about animals not just look at the pictures. The pictures are oil color pictures that are terrific, but the detail about all the types of whales is what kept our attention. My son is 4 and wants to read it constantly! The book is not long, but has a lyric quality to it.