The Worry-Worry Whale and the Classroom Jitters by Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna - OPTIONAL

The Worry-Worry Whale and the Classroom Jitters by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Hanna. PICTURE BOOK. Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan), 2024. $19. 9780374391522

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

From the creators of and in the style of The Pout-Pout Fish books, this is the story of a little whale named Willa who is afraid to participate in class for fear of getting an answer wrong. Her parents help her overcome her fears by role-playing at home, with Willa as the teacher and mom and dad as the students who raise their fins to answer classroom questions. 

Although the story has a great message with cute, colorful cartoon illustrations, I found the sing-song rhyming to be so forced that it bordered on annoying rather than fun to read. Fans of The Pout-Pout Fish books will enjoy this one though, and a teacher needing to encourage her little guppies to raise their fins and participate in class might find it to be a helpful and encouraging read aloud.

Angie Campbell - EL Librarian