Hello, friends! Our book today is Wendell The Narwhal by Emily Dove, a story about finding your talents and working together.

Wendell the narwhal has only one wish: to make beautiful music. His only problem is that the most melodious sound he can manage with his tusk is a flat “tap-tap” noise when he hits it against a rock. It’s a bummer, because all his friends can make beautiful noises: the whale sings, the jellyfish go “wubba-wub”, the octopus can pop his tentacles, etc. However, when all those sounds are going at once, they all drown each other out, and it becomes one loud cacophony! Wendell taps his tusk on the rock, calling them to order and silencing the lot. Then it’s TOO quiet. Wendell begins to take off, sorry to have interrupted his friends’ fun, but they quickly stop him. In fact, they might have the perfect position in their undersea orchestra for Wendell, one that could help his musical dreams come true.

Very sweet. There a few great lessons to be learned here, all of them wonderful for little readers: we all have our own special talents to share, that finding them may take a little practice and luck, and that working together and supporting each other is how we make beautiful music. The art is absolutely adorable, and the use of onomatopoeia as visual elements in the illustrations works well to infuse tension – plus, they’re mighty fun to sound out. The length was good, and JJ particularly liked this one. A sweet story with a lovely message, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!