Cute, but I think the story needed more. ( )

lyrical story telling; happy ending ( )

Wednesday the whale lived in a giant fishbowl in the center of the city, watching the world around her. Everything from the traffic to the stars seemed to circle around her, but despite her perceived position at the center of all things, she longed for the small bit of blue she could see off in the distance, when she jumped high into the air. Then one day a little girl told her she belonged in the sea, rather than a fishbowl. But what and where was the sea...?

A poetic, understated picture-book exploration of captivity and freedom, Whale in a Fishbowl speaks both to the human longing for liberty, and our understanding (however incomplete or unacknowledged) that wild animals belong in the wild, that they too should have their liberty. There is something in us that thrills to see a captive go free, as Wednesday does - something that feels the rightness of it, and rejoices. Troy Howell captures that feeling here, in his gentle narrative, while illustrator Richard Jones, with his subtle, muted artwork, captures the emotional drama of Wednesday's journey. The fold-out page, depicting Wednesday's last, desperate jump, offers a visual counterpart and emphasis to the textual culmination of her struggle to reach that elusive bit of blue. Recommended to all young whale lovers, and to anyone who dreams of freedom in some far-off place. ( )