How the Whale got his Throat

Abstract

This is one of a boxed set of 30 fable books by Usborne, 32 pages in length, 5" x 7¾". This booklet is on the first level, and the text is appropriately simple. It is a "pourquoi" story telling how the whale got his throat. A clever fish suggests to omnivorous Whale that he eat a man. He does, and the man proceeds to jump and bump and thump inside Whale's belly. While tormented Whale is bringing the man to land, the latter cuts up his raft and makes a "cross-cross shape." He puts this grid in Whale's throat and jumps out. "Now Whale can only swallow tiny things." The liveliest illustrations may be those of the man jumping and bumping and thumping in Whale's belly. There is a page "About Whales," and then the booklet finishes with puzzles and answers.