SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS

Billed as a “celebration of ocean life and the miracles of our natural world,” this visually stunning picture book exhibits the beauty of Common dolphins in all their splendor, and in much the same impressive illustrative style as Davis’s previous collaboration, Whales Passing (2003), written by Eve Bunting. Here, unfortunately, the artist tackles text as well, omitting one key fundamental: story. First-person prose descriptions simply list activities carried out by a semi-fictional young swimmer and a curious dolphin before she swims off with her small pod. It’s a dull distraction from the art’s soothing lines and glorious, crystal-blue hues that gracefully entice readers into a peaceful underwater world. The exquisite photo-realistic paintings—the star of this gentle communing-with-nature fantasy—are breathtaking. But without the employment of plot, conflict, character, purpose, and imagination, the one-note story swims aimlessly adrift. (Picture book. 2-5)