The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies

The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies
Buy The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Tony Taylor
Summary: A heart-warming tale of courage, friendship and family. Beautiful illustrations provide an engaging and captivating story to share. A fantastic sequel.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: September 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1471119989
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The Storm Whale in Winter is a sequel to the highly popular The Storm Whale. Noi's father embarks on one last fishing trip before the Arctic Winter sets in. All alone, with his six cats, Noi patiently waits for his father's return. As night sets and the sea begins to freeze, Noi starts to worry and believes he can see his Dad's boat from his bedroom window. Full of courage, he sets off out in the snow to find his Dad. Getting lost in the blizzard, Noi is in need of help which comes in the form of an old friend.

This is a very sweet tale of long lasting friendship, love and courage. At the heart of this story is the special father and son relationship. Benji Davies' illustrations are incredibly captivating. His use of colour is particularly delightful. The yellow of the boy and the father's raincoat jumps out of the page. The use of blue and black for the night time is really effective and along with the shower of snow they give the page a strong sense of the cold harsh conditions. I think boys would particularly be drawn to these pictures with simple contrasting colours. The pictures cleverly move the story forwards for children to use to retell themselves.

This is a simple story which can be shared with, and appreciated by, the very young. The Storm Whale in Winter is also good for young readers who are building confidence and independence. The story is filled with words that can be easily sounded out, boosting their self-esteem and assurance when reading familiar stories to themselves.

To further enhance the spirit and emotion of the story, I would suggest reading The Storm Whale first as this will provide additional information to the relationships within the story and tells the tale of how the boy and the whale first meet. For further reading, I would highly recommend The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield. Many thanks to the publishers Simon and Schuster for sending a review copy to The Bookbag.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies at Amazon.com.

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