Blue whale blues by Peter Carnavas

New Frontier Publishing, 2015. ISBN 9781925059410
(Age: 4+) Warmly recommended. Whales, Depression, Friendship, Environment. When Penguin hears Whale singing the blues, he decides to investigate. He asks what the problem is and Whale points out that his bike is not right. Penguin laughs saying it is just upside down and puts it up the right way and Whale is happy. Later Penguin hears him singing the blues again and asks him what the problem is. Whale is concerned that his bike is getting wet so Penguin gives him a towel to dry it. This story line continues as the Whale sings the blues and Penguin comes along like a good friend to help. Each four page sees something which troubles Whale, and a friend coming to his aid. When Turtle turns up on a trike, Whale laughs when Penguin explains that he cannot use a trike as he has no legs and arms. This evokes a great belly laugh from Whale and the friends are happy that Whale is happy.
A gentle repetition of one line about the Whale feeling happy will be a line readers will call out when each situation occurs. The song to accompany the story is available as a download, and the illustrations will cause a ripple of laughs from the readers as they spy the absurdity of Whale's concerns under the sea. Along the way readers will get a sense of some of the rubbish which eventually finds its way into the oceans, and wonder how it affects the animals that live there.
Fran Knight