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Summary
Summary
Wednesday is a whale who lives in a fishbowl smack dab in the middle of a city--it's the only home she's ever known. Cars whizz around her and people hurry past; even the sun and moon circle above. But if she leaps high enough out of her bowl, Wednesday can see it- a calm bit of blue off in the distance. When a girl in a paisley dress tells Wednesday "You belong in the sea," the whale starts to wonder, what is the sea? Readers will cheer--and get all choked up-- when, one day, Wednesday leaps higher than ever before and sets in motion a breathtaking chain of events that will carry her to her rightful home. Touching, and ultimately uplifting, here is a story about a lonely creature longing to be free--and longing to find someone just like her.
Author Notes
Troy Howell has been writing and illustrating books for more than 25 years. His many awards and distinctions include starred reviews in Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal; an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists; an Educational Press Association of America Distinguished Achievement Award; and Merit Awards from the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators and the New York Society of Illustrators. Visit him on the Web at troyhowelletc.com or follow him on Twitter at @TroyHow11.
Richard Jones has over 15 years experience in creative arts, and has recently begun illustrating children's books. He is also the illustrator of Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Libby Walden, a reimagining of Aesop's fable. Visit him on the web at paintedmouse.com or follow him on Twitter- @apaintedmouse
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wednesday the Whale lives in an enormous glass bowl in the middle of a busy urban interchange. If she leaps upward, she can see an expanse of blue beyond the city. What is it? The sight fills her with longing. Humans who watch her desperate leaps misunderstand: "People said she was doing tricks." Only one, a child named Piper, perceives what Wednesday needs. "You belong in the sea," she tells Wednesday. Wednesday wonders, "What was the sea?" Howell (Lizbeth Lou Got a Rock in Her Shoe) portrays the captive whale as puzzled rather than resentful, and Jones (Winter Dance) further softens the emotional impact of Wednesday's dilemma by painting the bowl and the surrounding buildings in quiet grays and blues. After a tremendous final leap, illustrated in a dramatic gatefold spread, Wednesday's tank tips over and the water carries her to the ocean. Images of the cramped glass bowl give way to reaches of vast and endless blue. Wednesday, who filled her bowl, all but disappears into the ocean, and, for the first time, she sings. By reaching for emotional rather than documentary truth, this team explores the injustice of captivity with a gentle touch. Ages 4-8. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Wednesday is a whale who lives in a big fishbowl "smack in the middle" of a city, but she's drawn to a distant patch of blue. She first learns the word sea from a compassionate young visitor named Piper; a giant leap (portrayed on a vertical gatefold) finds the whale finally home. A lovely story, gorgeously illustrated in grays and muted blues, of discovering where you belong. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Wednesday the whale, like the day of the week, is positioned in the center of town.Her gigantic, downtown fishbowl is surrounded by traffic, buildings, and people "flurrying, hurrying, worrying." Despite the rocks, fish, and plants in her bowl, she is clearly bored and lonely. The cityscape is painted and digitally composed in a muted palette of grays, browns, and pinks; the lyrical text builds mystery. The one thing that engages Wednesday is the "calm bit of blue" seen in the distance if she exerts herself and leaps upward. When a frequent canine observer is joined by its owner--a light-skinned girl in a paisley dress--the seed for escape is planted. Attracted to Piper's blue eyes, the whale ponders her parting message: "you don't belong in there." Wednesday tries leaping again, but fog obscures the view. People start gathering, misunderstanding her motivation: The mammal is not performing. In a final spectacular attempt--highlighted in a vertical gatefold opening and observed by girl and dog--the fishbowl is knocked over, water gushes down the street, and Wednesday flows into the ocean, a lovely blue-green presence so vast it rises nearly to the top of the spread. The whale's reaction? "And for the first time in her life, she sang."This subtle, satisfying narrative will be especially appealing to introspective readers who yearn for something that's perhaps yet unknown. (Picture book. 4-7)
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Wednesday is a whale who has always lived an isolated life in a giant glass bowl in the center of a seaside town. To break the monotony of her loneliness, Wednesday leaps out of her fishbowl and spots something blue behind the city's tall buildings. She is somehow drawn to the aquamarine color: Her heart leaped, too, when she saw it, though she didn't know why. The more Wednesday leaps, the more she can get a glimpse of the beautiful blue. Sometimes, when Wednesday doesn't have the heart to jump, she spends her time at the bottom of the bowl. That is where she is one day when she hears a young girl tell her, You don't belong in there. . . . You belong in the sea! The large and engaging illustrations were painted and edited in Adobe Photoshop. The pictures, which are done in soft, muted shades, vary in size and include one gatefold. The typeface is placed in different locations on the pages and visually adds to the whale's movements. The tale of how the solitary Wednesday discovers the sea and her destiny is heartwarming, and readers will cheer for her.--Owen, Maryann Copyright 2018 Booklist
