Mighty Moby by Barbara DaCosta (review)

Sailors sing a shanty, a lookout calls "Thar she blows!", and a one-legged captain swears he'll get an elusive white whale. When boats surround the animal and the harpoon goes in, the whale takes the sailors on a ride and then breaches from beneath them—only for a huge human hand to grasp the toy whale and remove the plug from the bath where it roamed. "Time for bed, matey," says the adult to the bathing child, and the parent then sings the little maritime adventurer to sleep with a whale-themed lullaby. That's one heck of a twist whether you know Moby-Dick or not, and while the interruption of the main plot right at the climax (Pequodus interruptus?) is startling, the redirection is amusing. Young's mixed-media art is gloriously dramatic, with sailors silhouetted against the briny deeps, photographic collage of the wooden deck bringing startling immediacy to the on-board scenes, and shifts from landscape to portrait orientation of the spreads conveying the chaos of the pursuit. The contrast between photographed details and more abstract silhouettes is atmospheric, keeping the visuals on that edge between real life and dreams. Since a lot of youngsters will want to hear the end of the exciting whale story readers-aloud may want to come prepared with a finish, and they should bring their best nautical voices for song as well as story. An author's note describes the creative process and a few of the book's influences.