This remarkable picture book features a child who must go on a long, long journey. We are not told why, but the child understands that ‘the time has come.’ He knows that his most-loved thing, his whale, must go with him, but he also knows that whales are big and suitcases are not. A dilemma. What to do? He discusses this with the whale and explains that the whale must ‘let himself go’, breathe all the air out of himself, and we begin to realise that the whale has become a picture on a piece of foldable paper, and this is the only way the child can take him on the journey. The whale is a metaphor for all the things that we all would want to take if we suddenly had to leave home. This is a difficult concept to accept and understand, but the story is a good one that could be used in schools where the questions will come thick and fast. The pictures, full of white space and using few colours except for the red of the whale and the child’s blue and white pullover, are powerful and emotive. The final illustration is of the child with his suitcase amongst others who are also leaving: ‘There are so many other people with suitcases and without direction. For the moment they only know, like me, that we have to leave.’ Poignant and sophisticated.