And then there’s this–the nonfiction, the poetical, the painting–a beautiful combination.  THIS is why I’m drawn to picture book poetry.  It’s amplified art.  I took a college class back in 1992 that studied the connection between art and the written word (taught by an Art Professor AND an English Professor).  It was fascinating, but here it’s nothing new.  It is the perfect marriage of text and illustration that makes these books sing.  Just like the whales in today’s poem.