Caramel reviews I Lived Inside a Whale by Xin Li

For his first review for the new season, Caramel chose a beautiful picture book, I Lived Inside A Whale by Xin Li, first published in 2024 and promptly awarded the Barnes & Noble Children’s & YA Book Award. As always, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are back! You found a neat book to talk about today. Tell us a bit about I Lived Inside a Whale.

Caramel: It is about a girl; we don’t know her name. But she finds the world too noisy. And so she makes a boat and goes into the ocean and finds a great blue whale and starts to live inside it.

S: Wait, so she wants to be alone and so she gets herself swallowed up by a whale?

C: Yes, kind of. But it is not a violent swallowing. She learns that the heart of a whale is huge so the inside of the whale must be large enough for her to live on her own. So she goes into one.

S: That is kind of fantastical.

C: Yes. Like in a fantasy, you mean, right?

S: Yes. I mean it is not really believable.

C: Sprinkles, this is just a story. So weird things happen. But the point is she finds peace and quiet inside the whale. Until a boy comes in.

S: Wait, so the whale swallows another child, whole?

C: Yes. And the boy is not very quiet at first. But he listens to the girl and leaves her be for a bit so when she feels comfortable she can talk to him.

S: I see. This seeking out a quiet place reminds me of a book you reviewed before.

C: Which one are you thinking of?

S: I was thinking of Albert’s Quiet Quest.

C: Oh, yes. It has been a long time since then, but you are right. The boy in that story also wanted to be in a quiet place to read, and his home and his friends were all too loud.

S: So what do you think the main point of this book is?

C: I don’t know, but I think one of the points is about how some bunnies want to be quiet and want space for themselves, and we should give them that space.

S: Yes, I can see how you would get that from how the little boy understands the little girl’s need for quiet and then how the two of them end up getting along so well.

C: Yes. And she tells stories, many many stories. So maybe when she has the space and quiet to think and so on, she can also speak up and say important and interesting things.

S: I can see that. So we should provide space for everyone to have a chance to contribute, for them to tell their stories.

C: Yes.

S: That is so sweet, Caramel! I also loved the color scheme and the drawings in this book. What did you think?

C: I liked it too. There is a lot of color. It is a very colorful book.

S: I think a lot of little bunnies could read this with their big bunnies and they would enjoy it a lot.

C: Yep, I agree. Maybe we can read it together.

S: Would be nice Caramel! So let us wrap this up then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: The book bunnies are back! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!