I loved reading this the metamorphosis she goes through to realize the splash size was all in her head is crazy.
In this book a little girl named Abigail is self conscious about going to swimming lessons because when she makes a big splash and she gets called Abigail the whale by her peers. Throughout the book she goes through a process of realizing that she was making it worse by feeding into their bullying. At the end of the book she ends up going to her swim lesson again and this time she did not care and jumped in the water and splashing one of her bullies but she didn’t care. ( )

Summary: This book follows a girl named Abigail who gets bullied for her weight. Her swimming teacher tells her that she can do whatever she wants as long as she puts her mind to it. She starts taking his advice and can be so confident that her classmates can see the awesomeness in her.
Reflection: I like this story because there have rarely been books about girls who don't look like other girls. I like how it speaks out about body image and how to gain that confidence back. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this book. Being a heavy person who was a heavy child I wanted to see how this issue was handled. I was quite impressed with how the swim instructor handled the issue of Abigail's size, but I was less than impressed about the way the bullying was dealt with.

When Abigail jumps into the pool she makes waves and splashes everyone. The other kids in the swim class tease her and call her a whale. Rather than telling her to lose weight, or to not jump in, her teacher tells her to think of herself as light. To visualize other things and you will see them in a different light. This works for her when walking in the dark and not being able to fall asleep at night. When she goes to her swim class the next week, she imagines herself as an eel and a barracuda and she swam beautifully. This made all the other children proud of the way she learned to swim and the teasing stops.

Unfortunately, that is not the way it works in life. I know this book could be used to discourage bullying by talking about what the other children were doing that was not appropriate and what they should or could be doing. I think that children that are being bullied and ridiculed may think it is their own fault based upon their self-perception. If used appropriately this book could be used to help children reach their full potential and hopefully to discuss the wrongness of teasing and bullying.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

When I first read the description for this book, I was like, WOW! Great! A book about bullies and fat shaming as it applies to kids. This is awesome! But I was rapidly let down. Bullying is a serious problem, and speaking as someone who was constantly bullied it can have serious lasting effects. Although it's wonderful that Abigail was able to boost her own confidence, the book never addresses the root problem - the bullies in her swim class. The ignoring of the bullies by the instructor, an adult who should have stepped in, is the same as saying their behavior is socially acceptable and that it's up to Abigail to deal with them by ignoring them and becoming more confident. Well written, but a serious missed opportunity that prevents me from giving this a higher rating.

Received for review ( )

Abigail the Whale by Davide Cali, Sonja Bougaeva (Illustrations) is a cute story about a girl that is a bit heavy and learning to deal with her body image. It is full of wonderful illustrations that really make the book POP! A adorable book and concept. Thanks NetGalley for suggesting this book! ( )