'When Tulsi and her best friend Satchen spot something unusual in the sea near their home in Scotland, they decide to investigate. But little do they know how much danger they are putting themselves in. After rowing out to a nearby island, they become involved in a risky rescue mission and their boat capsizes in the storm. But just as they think all is lost, help arrives from an unexpected source...'
Calling the Whales is a beautiful new children's read from Barrington Stoke and author Jasbinder Bilan that teaches children the importance of conservation and campaigning for chance, all wrapped into a daring adventure story.
The book focuses on Tulsi and Satchen, two young tweens who are soon moving up to senior school, but are spending their days before hand hanging out, trying to raise awareness of the plight of whales, and playing out on the ocean in their small row boat. One evening, however, Tulsi thinks she sees something usual out in the sea, close to a nearby island. The next day the two of them head out on their boat, and discover a young whale tangled in some old fishing nets, trapped.
The two kids take turns swimming under the waves, cutting away at the tangled nets with a penknife, trying desperately to help the whale before it dies from exhaustion. However, when a fierce storm comes rolling in the two of them are forced to head back to shore looking for help; but the storm proves to be too much for them, and the boat capsizes. How the two of them are the ones trapped in the sea, waiting for rescue.
Calling the Whales is the kind of book that might give some parents a harder time than younger readers. for kids reading this book is a wonderfully heartwarming story about two youngsters who go out and put their lives on the line to do the right thing, and end up making the world a better place. For older readers, however, it's a nightmare scenario where you're constantly worried about these children.
The characters of Tulsi and Satchen are decent kids. They've got good hearts, they're aware of some of the awful qualities of the world, but are still hopeful and kind enough to want to challenge those bad things in order to leave the world a better place. They're inspiring in a lot of ways, and I think that younger readers will look at them as being heroic even, and could become inspired to go out and try and do good themselves. Just hopefully not rowing out into the sea all by themselves.
Jasbinder Bilan does a wonderful job at crafting a narrative that sucks you in. By the time the two kids discover the whale, which they name Angus, you're invested. You want to see them save the whale, you want them to succeed, and you're worried about what might happen to the two of them. For a book with a relatively short page count you end up become more invested than you might think, and it might be one of my favourite Barrington Stoke releases for this.
The book comes with illustrations, provided by Skylar White. The art is simple, yet effective at portraying important scenes in the narrative. The characters are all distinct and clearly identifiable, and there are some wonderful illustrations that show off how dynamic certain moments are, such as Tulsi swimming below the waves cutting Angus free, whilst Satchen mans the boat above, singing to the animal to calm it. Even though the images are presented in black and white it sells the mood of the book well in some ways, especially with the gloom of the stormy ocean.
Something that the book featured, which was a really pleasant surprise, was some acknowledgement of trans and non-binary identities. When discussing the whale, the kids wonder about his gender, ans ask it he could be 'a boy, a girl, or a they'. Aside from some slightly clunky delivery on the line it's a wonderful sentiment to find in the book. The normalisation of trans and non-binary identities, and pronouns outside of just he and she is amazing to see in a children's book. Something that was unheard of even a decade ago being normalised and included like this is delightful; especially at a time where rampant transphobia and hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community is on the rise.
Calling the Whales is a lovely book, one that has some great characters, an engaging story, beautiful art, and some very real danger to keep things interesting and engaging. The kind of book kids are going to love.
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