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An Ocean World
In a wordless picture book, a whale raised in a pool at Ocean World is released into the ocean to find others of her kind, but a spouting fire boat leads her to make the first of many mistakes. Reprint.
24 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Peter Sís
110 books231 followersPETER SÍS is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, filmmaker, painter and author. Born in 1949 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and grew up in Prague. He studied painting and filmmaking at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London. His animated work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He came to America in 1982, and now lives in New York's Hudson Valley with his family. Peter Sís is the first children's book artist to be named a MacArthur Fellow. In 2012 he won The Hans Christian Andersen Award.
His many distinguished books include Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, Tibet: Through the Red Box, Madlenka, Rainbow Rhino, The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, and The Conference of the Birds.
His many distinguished books include Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, Tibet: Through the Red Box, Madlenka, Rainbow Rhino, The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, and The Conference of the Birds.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 9, 2026
A simple tale made special with the illustration of Peter Sis. I love that zoom out, minimalist artwork that nicely evoke what the author wants to tell. I like the flow of the story and you can feel how much the whale wants to connect to her kind. We can easily relate to that message.
December 20, 2017
Mostly wordless
August 13, 2019
A whale sails new seas, and, after several unsuccessful attempts, makes a friend.
January 23, 2021
A wordless picture book with beautiful pictures of a whale who grew up in a pool at Ocean World and was set free in the ocean.
April 28, 2011
Quiet and meditative, An Ocean World seemed to me like a large-format, mostly wordless graphic novel.
It tells the story of a whale who lives in a tank at a public aquarium, but grows too big for her confines and is released. (Perhaps this was some wishful thinking on behalf of the author, as releases of captive whales rarely happen in real life.) The whale traverses the expanse of the ocean, and by the end she has finally found another whale as a companion.
Obviously a very simple story, but I’m glad it wasn’t ruined by text.
An Ocean World might bring up some valuable discussion about the keeping of whales in captivity.
It tells the story of a whale who lives in a tank at a public aquarium, but grows too big for her confines and is released. (Perhaps this was some wishful thinking on behalf of the author, as releases of captive whales rarely happen in real life.) The whale traverses the expanse of the ocean, and by the end she has finally found another whale as a companion.
Obviously a very simple story, but I’m glad it wasn’t ruined by text.
An Ocean World might bring up some valuable discussion about the keeping of whales in captivity.
April 28, 2011
The paintings are gorgeous, especially the pictures on the page with multiple frames of different views of the whale. The sentiment of an aquarium whale being released into the wild and searching for her own kind is wonderful. But, the story is very slight, even considering that this is a mostly wordless book, but it is a sweet story.
August 9, 2013
A mostly wordless book with lovely watercolors that detail a whale's encounters with various objects and animals in the ocean.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews