The Leaky Whale (Paperback or Softback)

The Leaky Whale tells the delightful story of a whale named Earl who, by helping a crew of friendly seamen in a terrible storm, was helped by them in return. This long out-of-print classic was originally published in 1946. The charming and colorful watercolor illustrations were created by Charles Darby, who died in England returning from a World War II mission in 1944. Darby's close friend Jack Johnson, and his wife Laura Johnson, were determined to share the illustrations with young readers and so, wrote the story and arranged for the book's publication.

Darby and Johnson were both members of the legendary Beachcombers artists club in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

When the New York Times reviewed the book in 1946, its reviewer wrote: "When this book was read to ten four-year-olds, they wanted it 'again' and at the end of that reading, 'again.'"

Jack Johnson (1896-1973), a close friend of Charles Darby and a member, like Charles, of the legendary Beachcombers artists club in Provincetown, Massachusetts, was determined to share Darby's watercolor illustrations with young readers. Jack and his wife, Laura Johnson (1892-1988), founders and publishers of The Cape Codder newspaper, arranged for the publication of The Leaky Whale.

Charles Darby (1908-1944) did not live long enough to know that his charming, colorful illustrations for The Leaky Whale would delight scores of children and adults alike after the book was first published in 1946. Darby, a WWII Army Air Force radio operator who had participated in the D-Day landings, was returning to England from a mission on the continent when his plane crashed into an English hillside in October 1944.