Connecting with the Great Jewish Time: Abba Kovner's Something about Whales

Something about Whales, a children's book written by Abba Kovner, is an allegory dealing with calamity, survival, bereavement, and remembrance. The paper positions the book in the scholarly discussion of Kovner's work, highlighting the manner in which the molding of the protagonist and the shaping of the locale anchor the work in Kovner's poetics, and tracing its thematic roots to Kovner's world view and his concept of Jewish continuity. The paper also discusses Something about Whales in the context of Holocaust representation in children's literature, with reference to strategic decisions and composition choices involved in producing such literature for very young readers.