From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-Sobol's full-color photographs handsomely convey Mexico's Laguna San Ignacio, winter home of gray whales that migrate down the Pacific Coast. As in Seal Journey (1993) and One More Elephant (1995, both Cobblehill; o.p.), the author focuses on specific experiences of humans who interact with animals. Adelina, 10, lives in a remote fishing village. The scrappy houses, patched together from bits of wood and metal sheets, stand in contrast to the windswept sand and deep blue ocean. The simple narrative follows the girl and the fishermen in her family as they hear and see the returning whales, first from the shore and then from small boats. The huge mammals attract visitors from the outside world, and passengers with cameras poised ride along for whale watching. A sense of the great size and some of the behavior of these creatures is conveyed, but the emphasis is on the annual rhythm of the returning animals as a bond between human generations and also between humans and whales. This documentary account is well constructed and beautifully assembled on the pages. In a foreword, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., describes the advocacy work of the National Resources Defense Council in 1997 in staving off factory development in the area. A page of facts about gray whales is appended. Although readers get only a quick glimpse into each world-Adelina's and that of the whales-the glimpse is attractive and worthwhile.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, BostonCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 2-5. This attractive photo-essay introduces Adelina Mayoral, who lives with her family in Laguna San Ignacio, a small fishing village in Baja, California. Every winter they welcome gray whales to their lagoon and take tourists on whale-watching excursions. The very short narrative smoothly integrates a family story with bits of information on whales. The text is generally respectful, but at one point the author refers to the Mayoral home as "a simple shack." Most of the story lies in the clear, candid photographs that capture the interaction between Adelina and the whales. The text explains a few of the pictures, but captions would have helped. A foreword by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. documents the measures taken to protect the area from commercial developers, and an appended page adds an assortment of facts about the gray whale. There is no map, and this brief glimpse doesn't supply enough information for school reports, but it will attract whale aficionados and supplement science studies.
Linda PerkinsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
