posted on 10 Aug 2017

Storm Whale by Sarah Brennan illustrated by Jane Tanner

This book originally published earlier in the year in Australia and now by Old Barn Books here in the UK, is truly a beautiful book by any definition. 

Sarah Brennan who was born in Tasmania but who now lives in Hong Kong has written a simple but effective poem about children who come upon a whale that has beached and struggling to survive. They work all day to try and keep the noble creature alive but fear that they will lose the battle overnight as a terrible storm rages. When they wake in the morning they expect to find the whale dead but to their delight it has found its way back to the sea and the rest of its pod.

Delightful as the poem is there is no doubt that the real strength of the book and the story it tells derives from the truly magnificent artwork. Starting with textured pencil drawings, the entrance of the whale sparks the book into dramatic and beautiful colour. One of the things I most admire is the effortless way that Jane Tanner gives us fluid changes of perspective – one minute we’re in dramatic close-up and the next we’ve pulled right back for an overview of the beach.

The drawings allow us to feel the spume of the sea, the cold of the storm and the driving rain that lashes across the beach. When the children desolately return home, looking to comfort each other, the colours switch to the warm reds of a glowing fireplace. The freshness of the dawn and the passing of the storm brings light to the pages as the children dash to the beach to find that against all the odds the whale has gone back to the sea.

Tanner, who lives in Australia, has been illustrating books full time since 1984 and so she’s well practiced in understanding what will work. Her use of colours and drawing style reminded me at times of Shirley Hughes and at other points the influence of Christian Birmingham seems to be evident. There’s a soft nostalgia about the final drawing that acts as a perfect full stop to the book as the children wander in the sand dunes with their buckets and spades, at peace again after their big adventure.

The book itself is a lovely thing to have and hold – the title and the author/illustrator credits are impressed deep into the surface of the book and the cover illustration is a work of art in its own right.

At £10.99 this is a gem of a book that you’ll want to keep for yourself well after the children have grown.

Terry Potter

August 2017