Big Blue [Paperback]

Shelley Gill (Author), Ann Barrow (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

A young girl's dream to swim with a blue whale may finally come true when her mother, a writer, arranges for them to accompany her friends who are marine biologists on a research trip to Mexico.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-While it seems unlikely that a child could actually fulfill a dream of swimming in the ocean alongside a blue whale, this story is evidently based on an event that really did happen to the author's nine-year-old daughter. Kye narrates, telling readers that she knows "just about everything a kid can know about whales." She goes on to explain many facts about their size and bodies. Kye's mother facilitates her daughter's dream. "My mom- drives a whale-research boat in Alaska. She hangs out with marine biologists." Soon they are part of a small research trek to Baja, Mexico, where the dream is realized. "Time stops. This moment belongs to Big Blue and me. I twirl like a manta ray in her surge, dancing in the depths of her deep, blue sea." Watercolor and colored-pencil views covering the full spreads provide fine perspective in scenes of a whale skeleton suspended from a museum ceiling and children and whales swimming underwater. More adept at drawing landscapes and animals than humans, Barrow creates a good sense of place as she depicts the child at home, the trip by Jeep to the study camp in Mexico, and the undulating figure of the impressive whale. The possibility of an ordinary child living out such a grand dream makes for a nice adventure story, and the book adeptly blends considerable information about whales into the telling. Children will enjoy the package for personal reading, and it should find good use in classrooms as well.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Author: Shelley Gill

Shelley Gill has written seven popular children's books including Sitka Rose, Big Blue, The Big Buck Adventure, The Alaska Mother Goose (Paws IV), Thunderfeet-Alaska's Dinosaurs (Paws IV), North Country Christmas (Paws IV), Mammoth Magic(Paws IV), and Danger the Dog Yard Cat (Paws IV).

Shelley was previously an editor at Alaska Woman magazine, and has also worked as a reporter, editor, and publisher for the Frontiersman and Valley Sun newspapers in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Shelley lives with her family on a ridge above Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska.

Illustrator: Ann Barrow

Ann Barrow is the illustrator of many books for children, including Rumpelstiltskin (Reader’s Digest), the All-Star Sports series from Peachtree Publishers, and Big Blue. Her career began in 1977 and has included book jackets, children’s magazines, greeting cards, giftware, and portraiture. She specializes in drawing realistic children and aims to capture the spirit and beauty of each subject, whether the child appears on the pages of a children’s book or becomes a family heirloom portrait.

Ann Barrow, her husband, and their two children live in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570916675
• ISBN-13: 978-1570916670
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 11 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Marine Life > Fiction

More About the Author

Shelley Gill is an author and adventurer who has lived in Alaska 37 years. Through her true stories about racing in the Iditarod, swimming with blue whales, riding with the vaquero, climbing in ancient temperate rain forests and sailing to Antarctic she inspires kids to dream big. She visits schools all over the world and currently works as a humpback whale researcher in Prince William Sound. Read more about her at shelleygill.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written children's picturebook, January 15, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Blue (Hardcover)

Big Blue by Shelley Gill is a superbly written children's picturebook about Kye, a young girl who studies facts about whales, dreams with whales, and yearns to experience whales close up. At last Kye has the opportunity to outfit herself with underwater gear and see a magnificent blue whale in person. Soothing illustrations by Ann Barrow prominently featuring the color blue add a resonant depth to this charming and avidly recommended picturebook story.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of our favorites, January 19, 2011

By 

Jasper "Chrissy" (Darien, CT USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Blue (Paperback)

This is one of those books we read over and over. I love it and so do my children 8 and 5. It is enjoyable and educational.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great info on blue whales, July 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Blue (Hardcover)

I thought this book was enjoyable to read and important in its information about an endangered species. It shows respect for whales and conveys the awesomeness of the blue whale, the largest animal on earth. The illustrations were especially beautiful and made me want to swim underwater.