Dolphin Baby by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Brita Granstrom

I picked this up thinking it was a picture book with, from the rather poor image I saw online, very realistic illustrations.

It turned out to be a slightly anthropomorphized story of a baby dolphin from birth to catching his first fish, with swirling, colorful acrylic paintings.

I fell in love with it anyhow.

Davies' language is simple and perfect for reading aloud. It's a little long but would work well with older preschoolers. There are additional facts about dolphins and their world included in captions among the illustrations and in the author's note at the back of the book. There's also a simple index.

What really won me over to this book was Brita Granstrom's stunningly beautiful illustrations. Great swathes of color, small humorous details, shades from dark to light, all illuminate the sometimes gentle, sometimes terrible, but always beautiful world of the baby dolphin.

Verdict: Lovely to look at and fun to read aloud, this would make an excellent addition to your picture book or nonfiction collection.

ISBN: 9780763655488; Published 2012 by Candlewick; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library