Moby Dick: A BabyLit® Ocean Primer

BabyLit® Primers

by Herman Melville, Jennifer Adams (Adaptor), Alison Oliver (Illustrator)

BabyLit: A series of board books for brilliant babies.

BabyLit is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar's Alison Oliver, these books are a must for every savvy parent's nursery library.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Animals, Retellings, Literature

22 pages, Board book

First published February 1, 2013

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are Moby-Dick (1851); Typee (1846), a romanticized account of his experiences in Polynesia; and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his death, Melville was no longer well known to the public, but the 1919 centennial of his birth was the starting point of a Melville revival. Moby-Dick eventually would be considered one of the great American novels.
Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a prosperous merchant whose death in 1832 left the family in dire financial straits. He took to sea in 1839 as a common sailor on a merchant ship and then on the whaler Acushnet, but he jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands. Typee, his first book, and its sequel, Omoo (1847), were travel-adventures based on his encounters with the peoples of the islands. Their success gave him the financial security to marry Elizabeth Shaw, the daughter of the Boston jurist Lemuel Shaw. Mardi (1849), a romance-adventure and his first book not based on his own experience, was not well received. Redburn (1849) and White-Jacket (1850), both tales based on his experience as a well-born young man at sea, were given respectable reviews, but did not sell well enough to support his expanding family.
Melville's growing literary ambition showed in Moby-Dick (1851), which took nearly a year and a half to write, but it did not find an audience, and critics scorned his psychological novel Pierre: or, The Ambiguities (1852). From 1853 to 1856, Melville published short fiction in magazines, including "Benito Cereno" and "Bartleby, the Scrivener". In 1857, he traveled to England, toured the Near East, and published his last work of prose, The Confidence-Man (1857). He moved to New York in 1863, eventually taking a position as a United States customs inspector.
From that point, Melville focused his creative powers on poetry. Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866) was his poetic reflection on the moral questions of the American Civil War. In 1867, his eldest child Malcolm died at home from a self-inflicted gunshot. Melville's metaphysical epic Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land was published in 1876. In 1886, his other son Stanwix died of apparent tuberculosis, and Melville retired. During his last years, he privately published two volumes of poetry, and left one volume unpublished. The novella Billy Budd was left unfinished at his death, but was published posthumously in 1924. Melville died from cardiovascular disease in 1891.

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haha I finally finished Moby Dick! ;)

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although slightly abridged it was still quite enjoyable. Great colors and I learned lots of be words! thanks Aunt Clare!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rowan destroyed this one too. Big Moby Dick fan. It lasted longer than Dracula did, but not because he liked it less. Just got lucky.

[Dmitry Sedor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

[Dayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the OG 😂

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

not enough whale

[Marcus McCollom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book for the nephew

[Jaiden]

not really much to explain, this book is fire.

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the color scheme. E was less impressed...

[Drew Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was this crew who went aboard a ship captained by a madman bent on catching an elusive white whale named Moby Dick. Along the way they learned lots of things about the sea.

This was pretty unique compared to the other BabyLit books. Rather than being about counting or colors, this was about marine vocabulary, which was fun and different, and provided a lot of great opportunity for distinctive illustrations. It's especially interesting considering that one of the things I remember most about reading the actual novel in high school is that it was basically a dissertation on life at sea and whales in particular, so this does pretty well as a tot's adaptation of the story.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little primer for kids. With fun ocean words for little ones to learn, along with beautiful, simple images that are easy for babies and toddlers to distinguish makes this a fun read {and great learning device}!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it alone for the quote: Shipmates, have ye shipped in that ship? Which I can guarantee you will never come across in another book aimed at babies. This book teaches "ocean words" like anchor, ship, sailor.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm usually not a fan of the Baby Lit books, but I really like this one. It incorporates the basic story and main characters, and includes a few we'll-chosen quotes from the original book. Also, the illustrations are delightful.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute and benign introduction to "Moby Dick," through simple characteristic concepts such as "sailors" and "whale." It does incorporate some actual quotes from the original novel, as well as the main characters.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed. I was expecting a ten-page summary of Moby Dick, which would be cool. Instead it's stylized paintings- one page for seagulls, one for harpoons, et cetera. There's not even a taste of the magic of the source book.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

For: lit fans; readers looking for a book with ocean and sailing specific vocab.

Possible red flags: doesn't really follow the original work or give context to that story; may have difficulty connecting with young target audience.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun ocean primer & reimagining of a classic. The art is fantastic. The quotes were great.

[Nitali Tadkalkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

simple illustrations with a ocean-centric color scheme, this is a great way to introduce babies and toddler to the classic, along with introducing concepts linked to the ocean.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet ocean discovery book shown through a summary of Moby Dick.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s an “ocean primer” so I’m fine with the book focusing on seafaring things, but it’s very strange to me that Ahab’s name is never referenced.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet for my little toddler on her crankier nights.

[Amity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly the only version of Moby Dick you need to read.

[Miss Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the nautical pictures and the overall colour scheme.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I've read a lot about Moby Dick and many an excerpt, I've never actually read the entire book, and this primer will definitely not clarify the story for you or your toddler. Rather, it introduces your toddler to different key aspects of the narrative that are entirely divorced from the story, such as "gulls" and "stars." I wasn't sure how to feel about it at first, but ultimately decided I liked the approach, and most importantly, my two-year-old really likes it and asks to read "Moby Dick" at bedtime. She doesn't quite grasp the story; for instance, when we get to the "harpoons" page, she suggests that they help the whale, but she does get into it nonetheless.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE the Baby Lit board books. I have a growing collecting (including Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Little Women, and Sense & Sensibility). There are the two boy books I own from the collection, so I have enjoyed reading them to Elliot. Moby Dick is an ocean primer, with short quotes from the book accompanied by a large-print word and matching illustration, such as captain, anchor, seagulls, and whale.

[Jacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute! I do wish that there were explanations of what each item/person was though. there are lots of images of harpoons but explanation (however succinct) about what they are or why they are there. There is a great quote on the Captain pages, but no kid friendly blurb about what a captain is or does. but the flow of the book is very good and nice that it wraps up all the items on the last pages about Stars.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

These Baby Lit primers are a great idea, teaching kids basic concepts while introducing them to classic literature. They're all filled with characters and plot points from the books along with some fun art. My only complaint is these won't give you much of an idea what the real book is about unless you've already read it.

[Chinook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was merely okay. The girls were sort of interested in the story that could be drawn from it about hunting a whale but I think there wasn’t quite enough colour to the illustrations to really draw them in.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t really think this book gets the idea of Mody Dick across. I realize it’s turning hundreds of pages into 30 words or less, but it doesn’t work. It makes Moby Dick seem like a happy go lucky story. So it doesn’t work for me.
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