The Eye of the Whale ─ A Rescue Story

On a cool December morning near San Francisco, a distress call was radioed to shore by a local fisherman. He had discovered a humpback whale tangled in hundreds of yards of crab-trap lines, struggling to stay at the surface to breathe. A team of volunteers answered the call, and four divers risked their lives to rescue the enormous animal. What followed was a rare and remarkable demonstration of animal behavior. This celebrated story, beautifully depicted in Jennifer O’Connell’s mesmerizing paintings, will make you wonder about animal emotions and the unique connections we can have with animals—even whales.

Jennifer O’Connell is the bestselling author and illustrator of the picture book, Ten Timid Ghosts. She is the author of It’s Halloween Night! and the illustrator of A Garden of Whales, among others. A two-time recipient of the Christopher Award, Jennifer also creates illustrations for book covers and magazines. To research The Eye of the Whale, Jennifer traveled to San Francisco, where she met Captain Mick Menigoz and rode his rescue boat, Superfish, out into the Pacific Ocean to the area where the events in the book took place. This experience fueled her inspiration as she created the images and words of this extraordinary story. Jennifer lives with her husband, Kevin, in Bethesda, Maryland, and speaks frequently about her books and the bookmaking process.