The Whale (The Lighthouse Family) - Hardcover

Rylant, Cynthia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689848811 ISBN 13: 9780689848810

Publisher: Beach Lane Books, 2003

Synopsis

Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the second book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family helps reunite a baby beluga whale with its mother.

Pandora, Seabold, Whistler, Lila, and Tiny have all been enjoying the love and comfort that being a family brings. It is a comfort they are unexpectedly reminded of when Whistler and Lila hear the cries of a lonely baby beluga whale named Sebastian. When they learn that he has lost his mama, the Lighthouse Family, with the help of a cranky but noble old cormorant named Huck, does all it can to bring Sebastian and his mother together again.

About this title

About the Author

Cynthia Rylant is the author of more than one hundred books for young people, including beloved Henry and Mudge, Motor Mouse, and Mr. Putter & Tabby series. Her novel Missing May received the Newbery Medal. She lives in Oregon.

Preston McDaniels is the illustrator of the Phineas L. MacGuire series and Cynthia Rylant’s Lighthouse Family series. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska, with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

Grade 2-4-The Lighthouse family consists of Pandora, the cat; Seabold, the dog; and their adopted mice children, Whistler, Lila, and baby Tiny. In this adventure, Whistler and Lila help to reunite a baby beluga whale with his mother. While the characterizations are first rate and the sense of family harmony is stressed, the story is a bit thin and some of the dialogue seems strained. To help the tiny mice with the rescue, Rylant introduces Huck, the cormorant-"a soggy old bird" with a bad attitude. McDaniels's wonderful black-and-white graphite drawings capture the personalities of each of the animals. The layout and drawings are old-fashioned without being fussy and add needed drama to a somewhat simplistic story.
Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-4. In this sequel to Rylant's first Lighthouse family story, The Storm (2002), mouse children Lila and Whistler stumble across Sebastian, a lost baby beluga whale pining for his mother. At the suggestion of their own mother, Pandora the lighthouse cat, they enlist the help of Huck, a crotchety cormorant, who flies them over the ocean to locate Sebastian's mother, Honey. Rylant's strength is her creation of appealing characters that appreciate the security of home even as they yearn for adventures within safely defined boundaries. McDaniels' frequent graphite illustrations echo the warmth and coziness of the tale and add to the book's appeal. Rylant's choice of a flowery, formal writing style may be a problem for the intended audience ("Soon they would join their larger family, amid those happy calls with which lost ones are always welcomed home"), but children who appreciate the Beatrix Potter-like language will find this a pleasant first chapter book. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Whale

Edition details

• Publisher: Beach Lane Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689848811
• ISBN 13: 9780689848810
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: McDaniels Preston
• Number of pages: 64