Trapped! A Whale's Rescue by Robert Burleigh

Burleigh, Robert  Trapped!  A Whale’s Rescue  Illustrated by Wendell Minor  Charlesbridge, 2015.  $17.95  PICTURE BOOK  Content: G.   

A humpback whale plays in the water along the arctic coast line and the California coast.  The whale gets tangled in nets that she doesn’t see and as she struggles the nets get tighter and she is trapped.  The whale can’t escape, so she eventually begins to sink and can’t breathe.  The flailing whale is seen by some people who come and cut the netting off her.  She thanks them before she swims away.   

This book has beautiful illustrations.  The touching rescue and the whale’s gracious response made me a bit emotional.  The best part of this book is that it’s based on a true story and at the back of the book there is an explanation about the time that this really happened as well as more information on humpback whales.  There is only three lines of text and it’s short and choppy, but it seems simple and conveys the story well. 

EL (K-3)-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.