Wednesday 25 February 2015

Picture Books - Whale Strandings


NZ Writer and Illustrator Linda Roberts, illustrated by Bruce Potter The Whale Savers – Returning Wera to the Ocean New Holland Publishers 2015  $19.99pb 32pp

ISBN 978 1 8696 6431 2  Themes: Team work/ Whale stranding




Tama and his Nan find a young pygmy sperm whale stranded on the beach and soon the whole village (plus the Department of Conservation) is there with buckets, sheets and a great deal of energy and stamina. Bruce Potter’s illustrations bring the whole incident vibrantly to life and there is no real sadness as so often happens with multiple strandings. At the end the whale swims confidently over the waves and with a spout and flick of his tail is out and away back to the deep ocean and hopefully the rest of his pod. The writing is a tad forced in places but that can be forgiven because of the great use this book will have as a valuable resource and its 2 and ¼ pages of information at the end. The story includes the waiata Tohora Nui  (Big Whale) familiar to many primary and preschoolers round the country which Nana and Tama sing to comfort the whale as he lies in the sun.

Pre-School up/ Age 3 up





SEAWEEK runs from this Saturday February 28th to Sunday March 8th.

The theme this year is Look beneath the surface – Papatai ō roto – Papatai ō raro

Go to: seaweek.org.nz/


**  I am off this afternoon to the first of three events being held in the Wellington Region to protest against the proposed National Library changes to services to schools throughout the country. I will try to get some images and hopefully less blurred than of late. 
 

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