Indigo and the Whale

By Joyce Dunbar
Illustrated by Geoffrey Patterson
Bridgewater Books/Troll, $13.95

ISBN 0816738025


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Diving deep: for children, an ocean's worth
of lyrical books about the sea

Review by Paul Shackman

Occupying such a large place in the human mind, small wonder that whales loom large in shore dwellers' legends. In the heyday of the whaling trade the emblematic figure was Melville's Moby-Dick-an enormous, endlessly potent malevolence. But a kinder, gentler image predominates now, the sort of whale that appears in Joyce Dunbar's picture book, Indigo and the Whale, illustrated by Geoffrey Patterson. Here's a whale that wouldn't hurt a flea. It has the misfortune to be enthralled by the flute songs of Indigo, a boy who'd rather be a musician than a fisherman like his father, grandfather, and ancestors.

Indigo is mocked for his impractical ambition, and one day he must put out to sea and fish-the family depends on it. He has no luck casting nets, but when he plays his flute a whale surfaces, helpless to resist. Picturing a world without whales as one leached of color and life, Indigo can't bear to beach the whale. The point-a common and welcome one nowadays-is amply made, but the book is still inconclusive: without the whale, or fish, what will Indigo's family do for food? Canned tuna? Patterson's pictures are bright and beaming, in warm pastel shades that tell of tropical lushness, making this book-despite its flaws-a rousing cheer for biodiversity. What could be a more fitting tribute to the sea?

Paul Shackman is a children's editor and reviewer from New York City.

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