Well folks.... this is one of those special books... one of those books that reach us in a place reached by little else these days and boy, when we see this, we know we have been waiting for this and looking for this and hoping it is still there.
In this world of fast and skim and scan and how many likes, a shallow world made out of experiences that last for a few seconds, we find ourselves waiting to be filled by something and to be held by something bigger than we are. We need that something to belong to.
As the sun goes down in a glorious sea of pinks and reds, Nana arrives and it's time for her lucky grandchildren to stand outside listening to her stories, drinking her hot chocolate, eating her cookies and waiting as the stars come back to us, waiting for that very special moment. You might even hold your breath - hoping - as you do the page turn. You know what? It happens. A glorious, glorious night whale arrives and believe you me, this is no ordinary whale.
Adventure beckons. Your imagination lights up and all those neurons in that special part of your mind start firing in glorious recognition that they are meeting an old friend - and they are ready to go for the ride into the great unknown. What will happen ... kinda sounds like life, doesn't it?
I have a magazine cover I've saved for decades. On that cover is a photo of a horse - a brown horse - and we are looking deep into that horse's eye. My friend, T.A. Barron told once about looking into the eye of a gorilla. These animals, special animals, have eyes that take you to a place you somehow know exists and also know you can't see it here on Earth. The whale in this book has that eye. Exactly that eye.
Give yourself all the time you need to connect and soar.
The story is an adventure, a ride through the night, being together grandmother and grandchildren, and the lesson is that ... well, I'm going to let you find it for yourself. It's a powerful moment that completes a powerful story.
32 pages 978-1536238846 Ages 5-10
Keywords: whales, grandmothers, family, connection, death and dying, imagination, believing in yourself, possibilities, hope, inspiration, wonder, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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(Contains spoilers)
For daydreamers and the young at heart, this stunningly illustrated journey through a star-encrusted sky captures the beauty of our world—and of bonds that cannot be broken by any kind of distance.
Nana speaks of astronomy often, telling fantastical tales from many moons ago, tales her granddaughter wonders at. Tonight, with hot chocolate and constellations for company, they wait. Moonbeams bounce off the crashing waves, and, at last, Nana’s old friend appears in the sky: the Night Whale, swimming among the stars. Nana and the child climb onto the Night Whale’s back, and she whisks them off—over twinkling cities, through the shimmering colors of the northern lights, and back again. But this is only the beginning of the journey for Nana. As she embraces her grandchild, she promises she will always be out there. Even when Nana and the Night Whale soar back toward the ether, leaving the child behind, she can still feel her grandmother’s love and hear the Night Whale whispering, “Anything is possible.” Debut author Bryher Mackenzie and illustrator Gillan Eilidh O’Mara craft a magical voyage through the heavens that reassures young readers that goodbye is not the end.
