Customer Reviews

A Whale's Tale

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It was the cover that caught my attention. It took me a moment to realize that the front and back covers were original water color paintings, and then, my curiosity piqued, once inside I quickly got swept up into Janik's imaginative story. About half way through I suddenly realized there was a delightful twist to this one: it was being told by the whale's childhood sweetheart.

I ended up reading it cover-to-cover, standing between bookshelves in the bookstore, and was deeply impressed that not only was the story immersive and engaging, but there was no violence! None. I smiled, recalling a co-critic of mine saying, "What's a book nowadays without sex or violence?" Here in my hand was the answer! Done right, it's a book like this one that sweeps the reader along on a personal voyage of discovery.

I bought it, took it home and read it that night to the toughest children's book critics I know: my own children. I'm pleased to say that they wholeheartedly agree with everything I've said. In fact, after several more readings over next few nights, I noticed them painstakingly painting the "Color-Me-Please" illustrations (even my teenage daughter got into it). Last night I caught my youngest turning the pages, reading the book aloud to no one in particular, embellishing it as he read with his own parental comments and imaginative ideas.

In summery, this is a good book: It's nothing short of magically mesmerizing. What's more, after reading and hearing the story now numerous times, it still seems fresh and satisfying.

I wholeheartedly recommend this one for all audiences. Everyone should have the pleasure of reading, enjoying and sharing this book with someone they love. I know. That's exactly what I'm doing in writing review!

He was a Pacific humpback whale and his mother gently nudged him to the ocean surface, or "Big Top," immediately after he was born. It took ten long minutes to get there and when he surfaced he "blew out with force and sucked in a big, big breath." He was a December baby and would stay close to his mother for quite a while nuzzling up to drink her milk. Several weeks later he began to notice other creatures around them, perhaps the most fascinating were other whales he could see in the distance. As he slowly became more independent "he could swim up to the Big Top whenever he wanted and return to the safety of the sea below without harm." He and his mother began to swim away from his birthplace and her song began to mellow and change.

It was time for him to change as well. His mother was weaning him and he began to feel restless. Some of the whales began to feel irritable and others, like the small Pacific humpback, were also becoming restless. They were getting ready to migrate and follow the route and sing the song as their ancestors had done. The humpbacks began to move and connect with one another. They would leave Hawaii and head to Alaska. The mother and child were soon joined by others . . . then more and more joined formed a larger pod. They began to sing together, "each adding something to the haunting Song." The larger whales created "bubble tunnels" so they could all feed. This was an amazing journey and things were changing, but what would happen to them along the way?

This was a charming, soothing tale that wove in several facts about the Pacific humpback. It was told in a storybook format that made it easy to read. The book has a nice poetic lilt to the text and carries the reader through the book in a dreamlike aura. I felt like I too was going on the journey to Alaska and was quite interested in the changes the little whale was feeling and seeing. There are several line drawings of ocean creatures, including a mermaid, scattered throughout the book that your youngster can add a bit of color to if he or she chooses. There are additional recommended internet resources listed. If you are a whale lover, you probably will enjoy this different, but very interesting and magical tale of a young Pacific humpback!

It's not often that I get to read a book that keeps me smiling from the first to last page. This was such a book. The author's style was friendly and inclusive to readers of any age, and the whimsical illustrations made me want to go out and buy a box of crayons. (I'm 54 years old!) As entertaining as it was, there was also a gentle yet powerful message to our next generation that our world is desperately in need of keepers and maintainers of our oceanic wonders that we of this generation have been so blessed to experience. May all who read this book become our hope for the future and accept the torch the author and illustrator are passing on. Way to go, Bro and Mom (and I am NOT biased in the least!). Mary Janik, sister, daughter, and big-time fan! I love you both!

Take if from someone who has done it [ASIN:0595262902 DOG ON A SURFBOARD (and the rest of the adventure)] -- It's not easy to write a children's book. And once it's written, that doesn't guarantee its intended audience is going to enjoy it.

Luckily for Daniel Janik, he has succeeded wonderfully in combining his fascinating tale, told by a female whale about her and her male whale companion, with just the right amount of interesting facts and figures to keep any reader interested and guessing what will come next. What's more, if the reading of the book by every adult proves as full of surprises as it did for me, even the oldest reader can be expected to garner insightful new information.

The book has the additional appeal and advantage of genuinely fun illustrations specifically meant to be colored (this, in fact, is but one of several books in the Savant "Color Me Please" Series). Ruth Janik, the illustrator (and the author's mother), has a knack for presenting the myriad sea creatures in a decidedly kid-friendly manner. There's even something truly inviting about the puffer, jelly-fish, squid, and octopus, which could have come off genuinely frightening if rendered by a less caring hand.

Buy A WHALE'S TALE for your children to read, for you to read to your children, for you all to read and enjoy together!

By the way, I colored "my" seahorse a bright orange, pale salmon, and pale-pale yellow.

Much more than just A Whale's Tale

I just spent another wonderful hour on my deck reading A Whale's Tale for the second time to confirm what I saw in my first reading. I'm not sure if the "genius within" wrote the allegory that I see in A Whale's Tale by Doctor Daniel S. Janik (Unlock the Genius Within), but however it got to be written, consciously or unconsciously (I suspect a goodly portion of both), I love the whole concept of the journey to the Great Beyond. It's definitely a right of passage allegory, which instantly reminded me of Joseph Campbell's mythic hero quest (The Hero With a Thousand Faces). Myths are archetypal, and I suspect that Doctor Janik has tapped into one of the great myths of mankind in his delightful children's story. I saw archetypal symbols in: 1., the Great Beyond, the infinite source of all beings; 2., Air, the cosmic breath of life; 3., the Big Top, the mysterious gateway to the Great Beyond; 3., the Outside Ocean, the great big scary world outside our safe little corner of the world; 5., The Keepers, the guardians of the legendary ancient knowledge of how to survive the Great Ocean and find the way to the Big Top, and who have a sacred duty to pass on the ancient knowledge; 6., the Song, which is the calling back again, symbolizing the eternal call back to the cycle of life; and 7., the author's own "whale's tale," which symbolizes the boon that the author has garnered from his own hero's quest that he passes on to the children of the world in A Whale's Tale. When put together into a simple little story, all the symbols of Doctor Janik's Jungian whale's tale add up to an extraordinary allegory of man's eternal quest for self-knowledge. Fantasy writing is a fantastic way to awaken a child's imagination, which is the best way to discover one's inner self and find one's way back home to the Great Beyond, and the author of A Whale's Tale has given children much more than they will ever realize. Doctor Janik has given them the magic of imagination. Parents would be wise to read A Whale's Tale to their children and gently awaken the hero in their child.

Review by Orest Stocco, author of What Would I Say Today If I Were To Die Tomorrow? Reflections on the Life of a Seeker. [...]