I’m keeping with the ocean theme this week, focusing on a newly-published board book adaptation that’s a sweet Perfect Picture Book for this season of giving.
Title: The Heart of a Whale
Written & Illustrated By: Anna Pignataro
Publisher/Date: Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Random House/2024 (originally published as a picture book in 2018)
Suitable for Ages:
Themes/Topics: friendship, whales, kindness, singing, loneliness, empathy
Opening:
Whale’s song was so beautiful it could reach the farthest of faraways.
Brief Synopsis: A whale enchants fellow sea creatures with its songs until it sighs, lonely and hoping to meet another whale.
Links to Resources:
- Learn about blue whales, whose “songs” carry across the waters for hundreds of miles;
- Try these whale-themed play activities.
Why I Like this Book:
Scientists tell us that whale song carries across the waters, reaching, as Pignataro reminds us, “the farthest of faraways”. In The Heart of a Whale, we learn that this music enchants and spreads happiness to sea creatures. What many don’t know, though, is that by himself, a whale may have an “empty heart”, that “no song” is “big enough to fill”. He misses others of his species. But when he sighs, the ocean creatures carry that wishful message, giving back to the whale who had serenaded them. Until finally, another whale finds that wish and follows it, joining the no-longer lonely whale.
This sweet but simple story shares a message of friendship, of giving, and of giving back. While we may think that someone who cheers us needs nothing in return, The Heart of a Whale shows us that beneath the lovely serenade or beautiful artwork may be a being who can benefit from our empathy and kindness.
For anyone who needs a reminder this holiday season that kindness begets kindness, and especially for whale-loving littles and their adults, The Heart of a Whale is a heart-warming tale.
A Note about Craft:
The Heart of a Whale appeared originally in 2018 as a picture book. I didn’t compare that version with this new board-book version, but the story seems well-suited to even the littlest of listeners.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Wander, Ponder, Write 