Waiting for the Whales by Sheryl McFarlane (1991) earned the I.O.D.E. Canadian National Book Award. The beautiful paintings by Ron Lightburn won the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for illustration. It was the cover art that made me pick up this book. The pictures throughout the book, like the cover, are soft yet exact. The cover hints at the story. First we meet an old man who lives in a cedar shingled cottage on a bluff by the sea. We read about his simple, lonely life, made joyful by the return of orcas that swim into view. Several pages in, his daughter and granddaughter move in. He teaches his simple life to his granddaughter as she grows from infant to young girl. For me, the paintings make this repetitive story relevant. The illustrations invite the reader to pause with each turn of the page, gaze at the pictures, and consequently ponder the narrative.
