Indigo and the Whale - Softcover

Joyce Dunbar

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0711210802 ISBN 13: 9780711210806

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Limited, 1997

A boy who longs to be a musician, a talking jackdaw and a rainbow pipe with magical powers, introduce this story of Indigo, who charms a whale with his pipe-playing, and finds himself on a journey of discovery. Joyce Dunbar is the author of "Seven Sillies" and "Oops-A-Daisy".

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From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2?Indigo wants to be a musician, but his fisherman father insists that his son follow in his footsteps. In his anger, the man throws the child's ebony pipe into the sea. When Indigo must go fishing after his father becomes ill, his tame crow inexplicably brings him a magic pipe that holds all the colors of the rainbow. Far out to sea, the boy plays it and a whale surfaces. Indigo plans to charm the animal to shore, but other whales join in singing their song and drown out the instrument's tune. They carry the boy to different places to get him to stop playing, but Indigo refuses. Finally, no longer able to resist the pipe's charm, the whale is pulled to the shore. As she begins to die, all the colors of the world fade, and Indigo realizes he cannot find joy in his music if the whale can not make hers. In the end, the boy's father recognizes that his son has a different calling for his life. This unsatisfying parable lacks logic. The magical elements seem superimposed on the story to make it work, but they are not convincing. The characters are one-dimensional. The acrylic illustrations with intense colors evoke a tropical setting and capture its sunny warmth and the power of the sea. They are much more effective than the limp narrative.?Jane Gardner Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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