Hollywoodscreenwriter/director/producer Farrelly (There's Something About Mary
) makes his children's book debut with this not-so-subtle pro-environment fable, adapted from an earlier adult novel (The Comedy Writer
). When the pollution of their natural habitat reaches the saturation point, a pod of humpback whales in California's Santa Monica Bay begins a slow, sad swim to shore, where they plan to beach themselves in protest. Only young Abigale stays cheery on this trek—until she realizes just what beaching oneself means. Her enlightenment drives her to quickly convince her fellow humpbacks to find an alternative tack that will teach the landlubbing litterbugs a lesson. Her finned friends have fun-to-say names like Fred Doofish the Red Bluefish. But Farrelly drives the moral hard: Abigale must remove a castoff TV set from the back of pal Clem the Clam, for instance, and Blackie the Goldfish has "more oil on me than a can of sardines." Rama, a feature film animator, debuts here with the kind of wildly expressive, smoothly shaped characters that could be distant cousins of Nemo or SpongeBob SquarePants. The artist's vibrant underwater palette and quirky scenery will instantly grab readers' attention, while the proliferation of water pollution will likely spark discussion. The author is donating half his proceeds to Heal the Bay, a conservation charity. Ages 3-6. (June)
