A Symphony of Whales - Hardcover

Schuch, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152016708 ISBN 13: 9780152016708

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1999

Synopsis

Glashka is the only one in her village who can hear the voice of Narna, the whale. That gift leads her to great responsibility one day, when she discovers thousands of whales trapped in an inlet. The narrow route to the sea is rapidly icing over, and every day ice covers more of the open water the whales need to breathe. There seems to be no way out. . . . This story, based on an actual event, tells of a dramatic rescue--a tale of bravery and faith and the power of music.

About this title

About the Author:

PETER SYLVADA graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His first picture book, A Symphony of Whales, won the Christopher Medal and was named a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book and a Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book. He lives in Cardiff, California.

From Library Journal:

Grade 2-5-During the bitter winter of 1984-85, the people of the Chukchi Peninsula and the crew of the Russian icebreaker Moskva labored to save thousands of beluga whales trapped by encroaching ice in the Siberian Senyavina Strait. Schuch has taken this event and fleshed it out to include young Glashka, who can hear the voices of these animals in her visionary dreams. As the fearful creatures crowd away from the ship and its fractured path to freedom, it is Glashka who urges the crew to add human music to the whale calls they are broadcasting to reassure and entice the belugas, and to try again as folk music and rock and roll fail. Finally, a classical symphony for strings sounds a chorus that the animals join in, and singing, they follow the huge icebreaker out to the open sea. This fictionalized account is enriched by soft-edged oils in winter tones, picturing the laboring Chukchis, the white whales, the dark bulk of the Moskva, and the small determinedness that is Glashka. Team this inspiring work with Giles Whittell's more factual The Story of Three Whales (Gareth Stevens, 1988; o.p.), Dyan Sheldon's lyrical The Whales' Song (Dial, 1991), and Frances Weller's moving I Wonder If I'll See a Whale (Paperstar, 1998) and you'll have kids clamoring to go whale watching.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0152016708
• ISBN 13: 9780152016708
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Sylvada Peter