To the Sea

Tim, a boy, and Sam, a blue whale lost in the city, both feel unnoticed until they meet, and they become best friends as Tim tries to help Sam get back home. Publishers Weekly,Atkinson debuts with a moody but reassuring story about a boy who feels invisible until he befriends Sam, a lost whale. No Free Willy-style orca, the whale that Tim discovers outside his school one rainy day is a hulking sea-green behemoth. While Atkinson hits the story's themes of loneliness and friendship a bit hard ("The other kids were too busy to notice the big blue whale. Sometimes Tim felt no one noticed him either"), his illustrations-and their eye-popping marigold and teal palette-will make readers sit up and take notice. In a vibrant orange raincoat, Tim is a spot of bright color amid the torrential downpours of his neighborhood; indoor scenes are colored in golden hues, creating an intense warmth that echoes Tim's rising spirits as he debates how to transport Sam to the sea. His solution-pulling Sam behind his bicycle-leads to a frightening climax in which Tim nearly drowns, but the whale mounts a quick rescue, and a sunny closing scene suggests that Tim's next friend might be human, not cetacean. Ages 3-5. (May) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.