Product Description

Peg was born upon the bright blue sea.

A big, strapping lass, she isn't one to do things in half measures. Anything she turns her hand to, she's good at. But she wants more than that. She wants big, she wants better, she wants best. She wants to be the world's best fisherman....

Now that Peg's pushing seven, she figures it's high time she caught herself a whale. So she packs up her fishing rod and signs on with the whaling ship Viper. Peg is ready to catch a whale. But is the whale ready for Peg?

In this humorous nautical tall tale, Kenneth Oppel and Terry Widener have created a feisty, independent child hero for the ages.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1771122 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-17
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Amazon.ca
Kenneth Oppel, author of the wildly popular and award-winning young adult novels Silverwing and Sunwing, takes to the seven seas in this playful picture book for younger readers. Born and bred on her folks' fishing boat, 7-year-old Peg has just plain grown weary of chores. She's a feisty, high-spirited lass who yearns to find herself a real adventure, so she signs on to the crew of a whaling ship. When she hooks an enormous sperm whale, red-headed Peg ties herself to the mast for a wild "Nantucket Sleigh Ride," but the jealous first mate cuts the rope holding her to the mast and she finds herself swallowed whole. Does that scare Peg? Certainly not. She sets up house in the whale's stomach, building a driftwood ladder to his blowhole to keep a lookout for home. And, once home, she begins making plans for her next adventure. Terry Widener's robust acrylic illustrations perfectly match Oppel's garrulously sprawling sea saga. This is a rollicking tale that is sure to delight young readers whose spirits run as high as Peg's. (Ages 4 to 8) --Jeffrey Canton

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Peg was born on her parents' fishing boat and grew up hauling sheets, pulling lines, and gutting fish. Now that she is almost seven and has already caught just about everything that lives in the sea, she decides to set her sights a bit higher and signs onto a whaling ship. A few days later, she hooks her prey, but the jealous first mate cuts the rope holding her to the mast and she is taken for a ride by the angry creature. Peg is never fazed, however, and as she flies through the air behind the huge animal, she thinks, "Just as well-That old ship was only slowing me down." The whale swallows her whole and Peg makes herself at home in its stomach, using driftwood to build a ladder to its blowhole. When she finally returns home, she is ready for a new kind of challenge-mountain climbing. This outrageous story never misses a beat, and the feisty, redheaded Peg is in a league with other modern tall-tale heroines such as Anne Isaacs's Swamp Angel (Dutton, 1994) and the star of Diane Stanley's Saving Sweetness (Putnam, 1996). Done in acrylic on paper, Widener's paintings have a bright quality and bits of exaggerated humor that suit the larger-than-life tale. A whale of an adventure story with a thoroughly likable heroine.
Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 5-8. According to Oppel, this jaunty, action-packed tall tale was inspired by the old sea shanty "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" and by the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. It centers on a little girl, "pushing seven," who is determined to make her mark on the world. The tale progresses by boasts and brags. Peg, born in Gloucester oilskins, catches and guts fish with the best of them. But as the book's refrain goes, "She wanted big, she wanted better, she wanted best," so she fixes on hauling in a whale. She runs off to a whaling ship, excites the envy of some sailors with her fish-catching ability, and, in snagging her whale, is swallowed whole. How she survives and thrives makes for a funny and inspiring take on resourcefulness and optimism. Award-winning illustrator Widener showcases the witty exaggerations of the story in his vibrant acrylics. The double-page spread showing tiny Peg in yellow oilskins scanning the sea atop the enormous whale is, in itself, a tribute to courage. Children will like the way the illustrations splash across the pages, the tale's delightful humor, and the wonderful rhythm of the words. Connie Fletcher
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