Isabel of the Whales by Hester Velmans

This book is a breath taking novel that leaves readers in a magical world of wonder. I absolutely loved this mystical telling of a young lady “the chosen one” who turns into a whale for a year. She gets to learn secrets about whales that no other human being gets to know or see. She also gets to discover the wonders of the deep.

This is a story that will keep students on the edge of their seats. Velmans does a great job with suspense and for shadowing. Her work is high quality. She does a great job of using sensory details and descriptive verbs. She also shows her readers thing instead of telling them, always a sign of a good writer. She does an excellent job making her work of fiction logical and organized. It not only brings up life questions about what it means to take care of the world around us but gives detailed information about whales. Her story telling manner of delivery information will help make the facts more memorable and meaningful. She does not use statistics to discuss the decline in whales over the recent years but has students experience it through her words. She also shows students the beauty of being a whale and what might a whale’s life be like.

I would use this book in my classroom as a read aloud or free read. Either way it would be a great book. I recommend it for the upper grades because of the discussion possibilities but no doubt most of the younger grades would enjoy the mystical tale as well. I recommend this book to teachers.

Publishing: 2005