Comments
from the Illustrator
One morning, Maggie
Davis called excitedly from Maine, wanting
me to hear her story after receiving my sample slides.
I was mesmerized by the fantasy and rhythm
of her words - this was a book I wanted to illustrate.
Authors and illustrators typically do not work
directly together, but in this case we did and I
appreciated Maggie’s valuable input. Her vision
of the hillside with huge crocus-like flowers was
an inspiration. Maggie’s supportive and open
approach helped me to realize my vision of the book.
Elizabeth Nelson, the art director, was wonderful
to work with as well. Her excellent suggestions
helped to make the book the best that it could be.
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Reviews and Comments
“I remember as a child being fascinated
with whales - their size, their sounds, their images
as rulers of the sea. It’s a fascination that has
never left me.
I wish I could have had A Garden of Whales, a wonderful
new children’s book by Maggie Steincrohn Davis of
Blue Hill, to share with my daughters as they were
growing up. In simple language, with stunningly
beautiful illustrations by Jennifer Barrett O’Connell,
the book gently delivers to children the important
message that this magnificent and endangered species
must be protected and preserved before it is too
late....”
-Hugh Bowden, Ellsworth American
“...Like a contemporary “Kubla
Kahn” for kids, this fantasy appears to rise directly
from a dream. Its surrender of logic clears, rather
than obscures, the vision and leads readers to the
book’s heart – the Eskimo folk belief that we and
the whales are one and the same. With her effulgent
oil pastel illustrations O’Connell fully enters
Davis’s dream and strikingly echoes the fluent reverie.
This is a bedtime read-aloud that will set heads
nodding.”
-Publishers Weekly
“As a mother of a three year-old
who loves whales, I have to say that this is the
pinnacle of his whale book collection. Humpbacks,
grays, belugas, killers, fins, rights, bowheads,
narwhals and even dolphins are all represented in
a breathtakingly beautiful dreamy story of whales
and the children who love them. Evenly matched with
the prose is the awe-inspiring illustration. Wow.
This is just a beautiful book that you and your
children will love. I read it twice to my son right
out of the box and got choked up each time when
I read about the children hatching a plan to regrow
all of the whales that man has killed...
...Even if your children don’t love whales yet...they
will after reading this book.”
-Parent, PoetryConnection.net
Awards and Honors
Recipient of The Vermont Publishers Association
Certificate of Merit
Ordering Information
Visit your local bookstore (www.booksense.com)
Order online:
www.amazon.com
www.bn.com
(Barnes & Noble)
Or call Firefly Books, Ltd. at 1-800-387-5085 Extension
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