Fiona Robinson (1) (1965–)

I read this one for a Storytime! It is a little on the longer side for a young audience, but using voices and having them interact throughout kept their attention well enough. I had them be the tiny, high pitched voice of the plankton and asked them questions at different points. This story carries a great message about being able to see the unique talents of everyone else but sometimes missing your own. Sometimes it can take someone else to help us find our special talent, but at the end of the day we are all unique and that’s what makes us so special.

I also liked the theme in the book of how when you are feeling down and upset sometimes you just want to sulk about it and don’t know what to do. But if you are able to talk to someone else about your problem, they may be able to help you find a solution.

There’s a lot of cool factual information that could be pointed out in this one too. I was doing an aquatic mammals Storytime so having the part about whales needing to go above water for air was really great to point out that distinction as well. And I could make a point that because Whale was a mammal and had to go above the water, he had a unique viewpoint from the other sea creatures and that’s what he ended up being able to share with them in his phytoplankton ocean painting.

Also the fact that phytoplankton were used in this way was awesome. The painting that Whale ends ups making is basically a Starry Night rendition from Van Gogh. The fish running the art show is named after another famous artist, Jackson Pollock and he is a pollock, which is too great.… (mehr)

Whale Shines is another sweet inspirational story for young readers. Whale sees all the other creatures of the sea making art for the art show but he feels useless because he can't do the things others do. All he can do it be a big ad. Until, the Plankton become a source of encouragement for him. He then finds that he can paint with the Plankton and show the creatures of the sea what the night sky looks like. They all think his work is beautiful and had no idea he could do such a thing.
Students who have any desire to find a talent can sympathize with the whale and find encouragement in his triumphs. In a classroom this would be a good book to read to an art class or have in an art center. Then, have the students create their own artwork out of unusual art supplies. Give them toothpicks, marbles, sand, leaves, and other things to make unique artwork.… (mehr)