Benji Davies has returned to his beautiful, cosy and warm-hearted storm whale world again, with this delightful follow-up called The Storm Whale in Winter.
Once again, we’re in the company of Noi, his fisherman dad, their six cats (spotting all the cats on each of the picture book’s spreads is great fun as they’re always so well hidden!) and – this time – the baby storm whale and his whole family.
As usual, the illustrations are strikingly cute, gorgeous and bold. Davies drawing style is so bright that the story gets lifted off the page. And, as this story is set in a snowy winter, Noi’s adventure (to try and find his missing father) becomes all the more striking because some of the colours on the page are darker, starker and evoke Noi’s worry about not knowing where his dad is.
The original Storm Whale tale is so wonderful, I was worried this might be a disappointing sequel but no…Davies has conjured up another little piece of emotional magic with this gentle, loving and all-round heart-string-pulling whale adventure. Highly recommend this picture book!
[Reviewer’s own copy – we love it that much!]