Wally The Whale Returns

This is the sequel to “Wally the Whale” by Stephen George. Enjoy this entertaining adventure of Wally searching for his old friends and the new friends he makes on his journey. There is action and humor throughout the story while introducing octopus, jellyfish, starfish and “the old one eyed halibut” to the list of personalities. This is also written to educate children to some of the factual characteristics of sea life. Adults will enjoy reading this story to children and advanced grammar school readers will enjoy reading this story on their own.

Excerpt: An early morning sunrise shined red and yellow streaks across low hanging clouds. Wally's eyes slowly peeked out of the water and saw the colorful clouds moving silently in the pale blue sky. After a deep breath of cool fresh air, Wally took a minute to enjoy the beautiful colors. Wally noticed the sky getting lighter and the squawking calls from seagulls getting louder. Like a noisy alarm clock, the seagulls reminded him it was time to get going. Wally's wide tail made a splash as it gave him a push through the water. The splash was like a signal that today's adventure had begun.

It was the time of year Wally would begin his Pacific Ocean migration to Alaska. Like every year on his journey north, Wally would swim through the beautiful islands in the State of Washington. One of these islands, rich with green trees and wild berries, is Camano Island. Camano is pronounced Ka'may-no. This island was named for the Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamano over a hundred and fifty years ago. The beaches and hills on Camano have changed only a little since the early explorers first rested here. Now, this same island is a favorite place for Wally because it is where some of his special friends live. These friends are the neighborhood boys and girls who live on Camano Island.

Meanwhile, while Wally was swimming towards Camano Island, the boys and girls were ready to start their trip. They met at the ferry dock at 6:00 in the morning and were the first passengers in line to get on board. Well, all of them except for Cameron. Cameron had forgotten the binoculars he wanted to bring, so he ran all the way back home to get them. The other kids stood underneath the “Ferry Passenger Loading” sign and watched for Cameron to return. The loud deep roar of the fog horn bellowed out from the ferry. The horn was so loud Becky put her hands over her ears to help muffle the sound. “It's almost time to get on board the ferry” said Becky. “Hurry up Cameron!” yelled Graham, knowing Cameron couldn't hear him. “How long should we wait for Cameron?” asked Jeffrey. “We can let the other people in line get in front of us and go on first” answered Graham.

After the last passenger in line walked ahead of them, and stepped on to the ferry, they all spotted Cameron. He was running down the sidewalk with his ferry ticket in one hand and his binoculars in the other hand. “Come along kids. The boat's leaving. We have a schedule to keep,” commanded the deck hand from the ferry. “OK,” replied Ian. “Hurry, Cameron! We can't wait!” shouted Serena. All the kids began yelling for Cameron to run faster. They all stopped yelling when they saw Cameron's ferry ticket fly right out of his hand and into the air. They watched as his ticket fell towards the sidewalk, floating from side to side, back and forth in the air like a butterfly in flight. Just before the ticket hit the sidewalk Cameron made one quick scoop with his hand and caught it in the air. “Yea!” yelled everyone. “Nice catch kid” said the ferry's deck hand as he shook his head in disbelief.