A beautiful story about a little girl who wants to know what lies behind the sun, the moon, and the stars. It's a book of imagination and discovery with beautiful illustrations.

*thank you to Netgalley and North South Books Inc for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

5 stars. 

WOW this was great! I loved the use of the colours and the details in the illustrations! At first you may not see but if you look close, expecually at that stormy sky, you can see just so much beautiful work went into that. The story was creative and I really loved reading it. It was a fun beautiful read. Expecually with that last message at the end aboit loneliness. Stunning. Would definitively recommend as a good bedtime story. Adults will appreciate this too.

This was a quick and beautiful little read about Ida who goes on an adventure with a flying whale.
First of all, I loved the illustrations, the cover is fantastic, The only thing that I didn’t like was Ida illustrations she seems less than everything else -I don’t know how to explain it-.

I needed more from the story. And I think I just found my new favorite quotes of all time in a children book.

“
the whale gave Ida a nudge.
“Why are you sad my friend?” he asked. “I’m right here. Sometimes it’s nice to share a silence. Sometimes you can even lose sight of each other. But you’re still close together-always!” Ida’s loneliness flew FAR AWAY
“

I can't wait for the book to come out so I can add it to my collection and read it to my nieces.

The cover is gorgeous, simple but it gives the child the chance to explore the cover and when asked "what do you think this book is about?" They will know, it is about a girl and a whale.
I love the colour palette used on the cover also.

This book allows children to feel that it is okay to ask the big questions, to ask why trees are tall and why whales are so big. This book is a wonderful tale of inquisitive minds and acceptance. There is one quote from this book that is so powerful "Sometimes you can only understand others if you stand on your head yourself". What a magical concept, to show children that it is okay to be different, and that sometimes you have to change your view to see the world as others do.

A great little read.

This is a beautiful story about a girl and a flying whale. I like the illustrations very much but the story not so much. this kind of stories encourages imagination in children and adults alike.

I loved this book, and so did the preschoolers I shared it with. From the cover, the illustrations pull you into the sense of otherworldliness. By the time we reached the whale swimming between the trees of the forest, we were all hooked. I especially loved the text features that highlighted movement and size in the narration, and pointed them out to the children I read with. While I'm not sure my young audience picked up on the whale's heartfelt statements about growth and sharing silence, I appreciated the messages the book sent and I can imagine that they'll open up a dialogue between young readers and their caregivers. I'll definitely be purchasing a copy come April for our children's literature section!

Ida lives in a treehouse, always daydreaming as she takes in the landscape, wondering what’s out there in the world. A flying whale wakes her up and asks her to accompany him on a trip. Being a redhead, of course she takes him up on it. They go to many strange places, where the whale proves to be a philosophical genius.
The cover is funny, with a little redheaded girl next to a gigantic whale. . . and it’s still not to scale. Later on there’s a visual showing how much bigger the whale is than the treehouse, which is probably going too far, but other than that it’s mostly with her bigger than she should be. In honesty, I suppose it had to be done that way so that the two can communicate, but for someone who’s studied whales all his life—me—that’s a bit jarring, like a proofreader who can’t help but point out the errors (also me).
The prose was good, but the illustrations, seemingly childlike and impressionistic at the same time, are the key here. Those who love blue will enjoy this.

This was a cute little story about a girl and a flying whale. I think it teaches a good lesson about how "my normal" might be different than "your normal." The art is stunning. But, I wish we had gotten to see more characters than just Ida and the whale. It would have been fascinating to see people who looked completely different to Ida in the upside=down world. The art really carries this book in the end.

Ida and the Whale didn't quite do it for me. There wasn't a whole lot of story here. We follow Ida, a young girl who lives in a tree house in the forest as she dreams (I think?) about a whale floating by her window and inviting her to come for a ride. The two set off on a strange journey before eventually returning Ida home.

Some of the illustrations were really stunning, but others were on the dark side or confusing. There was a lot of play with different perspectives in the book, and some of them almost made me feel a bit woozy. Others just gave me an overwhelming sense of loneliness and almost despair.

I think this book will appeal to those who love to pore over tiny details on a page, but this is one I wouldn't want to have to read very often.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for providing me with a DRC of this book that will be published in April 2019.

"Why is the flower flying away?" asked Inda. "So that it can grow again -just like the rest of us", said the whale. "Some quicker, some slower, but all of us grow."

This is the sweet story of Inda, who lives alone in a treehouse, and her new friend the flying whale. One day, they go on adventure together and explore what it is to be normal, what it is that we all have in common, what is feels like to feel lonely. I loved the way feelings and silences are presented, and how the illustrations convey a comfy and slightly surrealistic atmosphere. I loved their use of the white space, and the watercolor technique. I would recommend it :)

"Why are you so sad, my little friend?" He asked. "I'm right here. Sometimes, it's nice to share a silence. Sometimes, you can even loose sight of each other. But you're still close together-always!" Ida's loneliness flew far away.

This book looked quite cute but the story leaves much to be desired.

The art is pretty, yes, but it doesn’t fill in the blanks or add much more of interest to the very uneventful text.

It frankly felt like many other picture books I’ve read before, with nothing to set it apart.

This is fine if all you’re looking for is a bedtime read for a child, but there’s definitely more interesting books out there.

I would recommend this to: people who like whales and would enjoy the pictures anyway.

I thought this would be a Kindle ARC but it isn't, I only read on my Kindle. So disappointed, this sounded great. I will watch for it when it comes out. My grandson loves whales :)

A beautifully crafted children's picture book about a young girl and a whale. Lovely and whimsical throughout.

While the illustrations were beautiful, there wasn't much to this story that would add to storytimes. We might still order it for one-on-one sharing, as imaginative books are popular in our collection.

This is a cute and warming story with lovely illustrations that kids would surely enjoy. I just wish there's more to the story, though.

Wonderful children's book filled with amazing pictures. Ida lives in a tree and dreams of all the possibilities there are in space. Together, she and her friend (a giant flying whale) explore just a few of the many stops that exist beyond the clouds. This is a great story about dreaming, exploring, friendship, and having an open mind.

This is such a beautiful children's book. Parents will love this read aloud book. The artwork is whimsical and stunning. An even better plus behind it is the message. Fantastic through and through.

I like the illustrations so much. I wish the story was a little bir longer. I felt like the story is lack of something but it was still good.

A charming book of a little girl who accompanies a flying whale to go on an adventure one night.

Ida is a little, curious girl who lives in a pretty tree house and often wonders about magnanimity of universe. One night, a flying whale visits Ida and asks her to go on an adventurous trip to faraway lands. Ida who’s always curious about what lies beyond the sun, the moon, and the stars happily accompanies her new friend and both of them travels to faraway destinations to explore the magical universe. On the way, Ida feels lonely, but her friend teaches her to relish the blissful solitude of her own company. Ida gets a few answers to her earlier questions and is left with countless new questions to ponder upon after they return. ...Full review soon on The Prairies Book review (Upcoming review magazine)

As soon as you open the first page of this book, you know you are about to dive into something special. A young girl lives in a house, high up in a birch tree. One day a giant flying whale floats to her door and asks if she wants to go on a journey. Of course she does. They travel to the world beyond, where everything is upside down. But can they both survive the impending storm?

Every page is covered with stunningly beautiful illustrations. I can see imaginative kids pouring over every page, taking it all in.

I cannot wait to add this to my library's collection. I will be including this book in book talk presentations to grade 1 students.