Noi lives a self-sufficient life with his father by the sea in an isolated home reminiscent of the fishing huts at Hastings on England’s south coast. One day he finds a little whale washed up on the sand and takes tender care of it until his father persuades him that they need to return it to its aquatic home. The picture where they do this is especially striking. Two small figures are side by side clad in yellow coats and sou’westers in a tiny fishing boat on a wide and choppy sea, with the whale’s tail seemingly waving farewell to them. Benji Davies’ colour palette, with its emphasis on blue and yellow, is used to pleasing effect whether he is portraying the vistas of the sea and the shore or the detail of the home environment shared with affectionate co-operation between Noi and his father.
