My Friend Whale

by Simon James

A child's enjoyment of a whale in the sea near his home ceases when the whale is suddenly never seen again

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

24 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1991

About the author

Simon James is the award-winning author-illustrator of many children’s books, including such favorites as DEAR GREENPEACE, LEON AND BOB, and the Baby Brains series. His stories often concern a child’s relationship with the natural world. Simon James lives in England.

Reviews

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations but made a huge mistake by not reading the ending before reading it aloud and the whale is killed by whaling. ALWAYS READ THE ENDING OF BOOKS BEFOREHAND.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely imaginative story and wonderful illustrations about a boy and his whale friend! Thought the ending could have been better but I guess it leaves it open ended which is probably a good literacy resource for older children.
This is the same author as “Dear Greenpeace” ....

[Leanne Proctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Friend Whale
A really good book with lots of opportunities to challenge pupils thinking about animals such as migration and size. Pupils in year 3 really enjoyed this book and the ending is unexpected. Read as a class but was available in the book corner.
Very colourful and really helped pupils to discuss our senses.

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deceptively-simple story about a little boy who goes on adventures with his best friend, a blue whale, every night. Then, one night, the blue whale fails to appear. Will he ever come again?
This is a great story to gently introduce children to environmental issues, with some facts about blue whales woven into the story. Often, we don't realise the value of what we have until it's gone, so I hope that this book can raise awareness among children so future generations can attempt to undo some of the damage we have done to our oceans.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘My Friend the Whale’ is a simple story of friendship between a boy and a whale. The reader learns about the whale through the text and is given lots of lovely illustrations of the whale and the boy on each page. This story discusses the issue of poaching/ the protection of animals in a child-friendly way. We learn that even though the whale looks big and scary it isn’t dangerous. At the end of the story, the whale is missing and hasn’t come back to see his friend and the reader is left to draw their own conclusions.

[Mairéad · Rating 3 out of 5]

With attractive illustrations and an imaginative story this book is suitable for children aged 5+. It's message about taking action to save the blue while makes it an excellent prompt for a project on endangered animals with an older group of primary pupils.

[Kay Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short, simple story. Few facts. Whale dissapears - good for teaching children about animal conservation. Facts at back of book on how we can help whales. Not the most interesting story.

[Theo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty traumatic ending for a picture book!

[K.U. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story!

[Alexander Albutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotionally destructive. I am now so sad

[Frances Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super book for KS1

[Zatika · Rating 4 out of 5]

New things for me- whales can't smell and taste. I guess they basically gobble up those krills just for the sake of filling their stomach. :)

A good book if you want to introduce your child to these gentle giants. Btw, one of my bucket list is too see one of this wonderful creation of Allah, up close. Save the whales!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned about whales from this book. A little bit of non-fiction with a fiction flare (no child is riding a whale) but still an interesting book!

[Cws]

JEPIC-Jam