The Storm Whale in Winter

Noi, who lives with his fisherman father, is reunited with the whale he rescued in The Storm Whale (rev. 1/15). Months have passed since Noi helped the stranded whale calf return to its pod. The boy hopes he'll see his friend again, but winter is setting in and the chances are increasingly slim. "All around the island the sea slowly filled with ice." Noi's dad heads out one last time to fish, but when Dad doesn't return home by nightfall, a worried Noi walks out on the now-frozen sea to search for him. Noi becomes lost before finding his dad's fishing boat trapped--and abandoned--on the ice. A stressful turn of events, to be sure, but Davies holds Noi's anxiety at bay in both the warm-toned illustrations and gentle text. The double-page-spread illustration following Noi's unsettling discovery that "the boat was empty" offers a dramatic underwater view from the bottom of the boat as Noi's whale and its family miraculously arrive on the scene. The whales free the boat and lead Noi to the lighthouse where Dad has been waiting out a snowstorm. A titch too neat, but the resolution is welcome relief from poor Noi's dire circumstances. This almost-harrowing adventure story/triumphant friendship tale is seaworthy indeed. kitty flynn