Reviews

The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

mindfullibrarian's review against another edition

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4.0

A beautiful story that has dual messages ~ one about a fishing family's way of life and the conflict that has with nature, and one about a boy going against his father's wishes to do what he knows in his heart is the right thing. This story has so many topics for use in discussion with children, and the artwork is vibrant and often dominates the page spreads.

Highly recommend for school libraries - I would use this in read alouds for grades 2 or 3 and up due to the darker subject matter, but in a one-on-one setting or with much time for discussion this is definitely appropriate down to kindergarten. Recommended for up through middle school classrooms as the potential discussions of moral issues are so plentiful.

Thank you to Roaring Brook and Macmillan for the advance review copy of this title.

earth_and_silver's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

lordofbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

readingthroughtheages's review against another edition

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4.0

Great book to use for discussions. I think readers are going to want to talk about this one.

faeriedrumsong's review against another edition

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4.0

I am a cryer. I cry to so many things. What can I say...I'm empathetic.

This book makes me tear up something awful. Great picture book to start a conversation about animals, conservation, bravery, and the connections of life on the planet.

raoionna's review against another edition

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3.0

A young boy saves a whale from near death. This has wonderful illustrations, particularly of the whale's face.

mandarchy's review against another edition

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4.0

Definitely a book for starting a conversation. Young children have a hard time coming to terms with their parents being wrong - it's that dependent trust relationship that eventually ends with the knowledge that mom or dad might make a bad choice. The main character takes a huge risk, perseveres and succeeds in spite of his dad's wishes. How would you use this in a lesson? As a writing prompt about what is right and wrong? Bravery? I cannot imagine swimming around a whale!

mario_pellegrino's review against another edition

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3.0

Beautiful illustrations. Story? Not so much.

jmshirtz's review against another edition

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4.0

I loved this wonderful story of empathy. I only wish the father's reaction had been a bit stronger.

cweichel's review against another edition

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5.0

I would give this book 5 stars on the beauty of the illustrations alone, but it's also a compelling story about a young man who disobeys his father to save the life of a whale trapped in their fishing net.