AN OCEAN WORLD

Virtually the only text in this book dedicated ``To all who care about our world'' is a postcard from Sis to his family, explaining that a whale raised at ``Ocean World'' is soon to be set free. The illustrations that follow show the whale outgrowing her pool, traveling (by sling) out to sea, and then—in a lovely, serene series of frames and full-page paintings—experiencing her new world at different times of day, on the surface and deep beneath it. This is a fascinating tour de force: with many illustrations composed simply of the whale, tiny in the immensity of the sea, the interest here (aside from some delightfully playful pictures where another form mimics the whale's—a blimp, a submerged galleon, an island whose single palm tree resembles her spout) is derived from interpreting quite subtle changes of color and texture. At the end, romance blooms with a pair of tails diving beneath a glowing valentine of a sunset. Exquisitely designed; charmingly offbeat. (Picture book. 3+)