A whale of a tale

Now that we've emerged from winter's snow and ice, many of us are planning our summer vacations. For some, that could mean taking to the water — maybe going whale watching. A quick Google search tells us that in Canada the season for such activity stretches from April to October, and that the best places to spot whales include Vancouver Island; Newfoundland and Labrador; Churchill, Man.; Nunavut; and Quebec.

If you're thinking of making whale watching a family event, here are a couple of picture books to whet the appetites of young family members.

Soren's Seventh Song

Dave Eggers Illustrated by Mark Hoffmann Cameron Kids Ages 6 to 9

Author Dave Eggers, who won this year's Newbery Medal for The Eyes and the Impossible, an animal-based novel for all ages, turns his attention to the watery deep with this new picture book and gives us Soren, a young humpback whale with a love of music — but not the droning songs whales are known for singing. Soren is determined to inject some life in those songs, and sets out to compose tunes that are shorter, catchier and feature the sounds of maracas and theremins. But when he performs his songs for friends, their reaction is far from enthusiastic. In fact, a couple of them vomit discreetly “into the whale equivalent of

(an) underarm, which is known among whales as an underfin. That is scientific.”

Much of the fun of this book is the way the author addresses the reader in asides, many of them dealing with what parts of the text are true and what parts are fiction. The humour in this rollicking tale is warmly depicted in Mark Hoffmann's illustrations.

Maybe a Whale

Kirsten Pendreigh Illustrated by Crystal Smith Groundwood Books Ages 3 to 6

Vancouver's Kirsten Pendreigh takes a less boisterous, more poetic approach in her book about whales, telling the story of a mother and daughter who take to the water in a kayak in memory of the child's grandfather, “who was always talking about the sea and his whales.” They “paddle hard to reach small islands, coves where the water is calm” and see jellyfish and a seal, but no whales.

They camp on a beach, talk about Grandpa, look at the stars and listen to the sounds of nature, including a new sound: “Pushhhhh! / — coming from the ocean.”

Mom tells our narrator it's the sound of humpbacks breathing in the bay and while they can't see the whales in the dark, those breaths rock the girl to sleep.

Illustrator Crystal Smith, who lives on a B.C. island, does a masterful job of giving us an aerial view of the kayakers heading home, trailed by the dark underwater silhouettes of two whales.