Harvey the Great Lakes Whale
Wiliam George Nelson
Whale Tale Publishing
430 South 14th Street, Escanaba, MI 49829
ISBN: 978-0-9796220-0-7, $12.00, 2007.
Reviewed for Reader Views Kids, 2/08.
Have you ever taken a wrong turn and ended up somewhere wonderful? Sometimes making a mistake can lead to an exciting adventure. Harvey is a young whale who doesn't always listen to every thing his parents tell him. His not listening has led him to become entangled in a ship. Unable to free himself, he ends up traveling many miles from his home and the salt of the ocean.
Being in fresh water rather than salt water gives him an opportunity to make new friends and learn about where he now lives. His new best friend is Tommy Trout. Being friends they help each other out of difficult situations. Some of the other characters he meets are: Gertrude the Gossipping Sea Gull, Susie Salmon and Stuart Sturgeon.
This is more than just a great story book. After each chapter, there are descriptions of many different types of fish. It is like a travel book to the Upper Pennisula of Michigan. I have visited some of the very same sites that Harvey visits. I remember feeling much the same way when he found himself inside the Soo Locks between the United States and Canada. I loved this book and hated to see it end!
If you are looking for a book to get your young fisherman or fisherwoman hooked on reading, you will definitely want to catch this one!
