Waiting for the Whales » (REV)

In this timeless story set on the West Coast, an old man lives alone on a bluff overlooking the sea and tends his garden. And waits. Only when the whales return each year to the bay in front of his cottage is his loneliness eased. One day, his daughter and her baby return home to live with the old man, bringing a renewed sense of purpose to his life. As his granddaughter grows, the old man passes on a wealth of knowledge and wisdom as well as his passion for the whales. And each year they wait together for the whales to return. Waiting for the Whales suggests that aging and death is only part of a greater cycle of rebirth and continuity.

Publishers Weekly

Already the winner of the Canadian National Book Award, this luminous picture book--a first effort for both collaborators--tells the simple story of an old man who lives alone in a house overlooking the sea. His life has assumed a cozy regularity to match the seasons: collecting firewood and clams in wintertime; planting his garden in the spring; and, in summer, watching his beloved orca whales swimming by. When his daughter comes to visit one spring with a new infant, the man has someone with whom to share his love of the natural world--especially the whales. Written in precisely cadenced prose, McFarlane's story about thecycles of life--while not a new theme--is so deftly handled that it becomes genuinely moving. (The old man dies, and his daughter comforts the child: ``Don't be sad, sweet girl. Your grandfather's spirit has gone to leap and swim with the whales.'') The meticulousness of Lightburn's pastel drawings perfectly complements this gentle scenario--his use of light and shade, for example, proves remarkable. One drawing in particular, of the old man and his granddaughter examining a small branch in the woods, serves as a compelling portrait of intergenerational love that sums up this book's joyous, life-affirming mood. Ages 4-up. (Mar.)