In the waters off the coast of an unnamed Latin American country, Abelardo and his father find a whale tangled in their fishing nets. Author/illustrator Mordecai Gerstein depicts both the boy’s worry about the whale and his father’s frustration that their net, an essential tool in their trade, will have to be sacrificed, but ultimately the boy’s compassion for another living being wins out. As his father goes to search for a new net, Abelardo dives under the water to cut the nets and free the whale. When The Boy and the Whale (Roaring Brook, $17.99) come face to face, Gerstein achieves one of the most powerful moments of this immensely emotional tale. Ages 5-8.