Little whale by Jo Weaver

Hachette, 2018. ISBN 9781444937503
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Whales. Ocean. Home. Family. Little whale and her mother are going home, home to where the calf will meet her relatives, and rest and feed in the rich northern waters, far from where she was born.
This beautifully presented book with its lovely spare language and inviting illustrations underlines the feeling of home and its call to us all. Everybody reading it will feel the tug of their own home and what it means to them as the calf sees her home for the first time.
The pair leave the shallower waters and head out into the Southern Ocean. Most of the others have already left and our pair must make their way north alone. They pass the coral reef and see many other fish, they travel many miles, into colder waters, passed by large ships, and then a pod of orca. Little whale feels scared and moves in more closely to her mother. She is tired but assured that it is only a little way to go. Finally they hear the whale song through the water, calling them home to the northern snow capped peaks and the other grey whales.
The blue hues on every page contain a variety of fish for eager eyes to spot and recognise, while the skies above change as they swim north, revealing a change in where they are in the world.
Fran Knight