COMING MARCH 18th, 2025
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER
From Emmy Award–winning documentary filmmaker James Robinson comes a breathtaking illustrated memoir for middle-grade through adults readers—inspired by the viral, Emmy-nominated short film Whale Eyes.
Told through an experimental mix of intimate anecdotes and interactive visuals, this book immerses readers in James’s point of view, allowing them to see the world through his disabling eye conditions.
Readers will get lost as they chase words. They’ll stare into the book while taking a vision test. They’ll hold it upside down as they practice “pretend-reading”… and they’ll follow an unlikely trail toward discovering the power of words.
With poignant illustrations by Eisner Award–nominated artist Brian Rea, Whale Eyes equips readers of all ages with the tools to confront their discomfort with disability and turn confused, blank stares into powerful connections.
An Indies Introduce Pick for Winter/Spring 2025
“Beautiful, important, creative, and insightful… I absolutely loved it.”
—Rob Harrell, author of Wink
“This should be a must-read in classrooms. So much to discuss!”
—Kristine Jelstrom-Hamill
Buttonwood Books & Toys, Cohassett, MA
Age Range: 10 – Adult
304 Pages
Printed in Full Color with Illustrations by
Eisner Award-nominated Artist Brian Rea
“I have never in my life read a book quite like this.”
—Suzanne Lucey
Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC
Inspired By The Viral, Emmy-Nominated Short Film For The New York Times
“A pointed look at the public education system and how we evaluate intelligence.”
—Kalli King
Rediscovered Books, Boise, ID
Community Acknowledgement
Whale Eyes, and countless works like it, exist because of the tireless work of the Disability Community, whose members have fought to create space for disabled voices: in the classroom, in journalism, and in publishing. Repeatedly, this community has proven that disability stories are not just essential to our understanding of ourselves and our world, but also that they are commercially viable—stories for which readers and viewers yearn.
When Disabled people are included in media production, which is to say—when they are accommodated, listened to, and given creative control—the quality, accuracy, and reach of our work inevitably increases.
I will never know many of the names of those who fought to create the space for a book like Whale Eyes. But their collective actions are the reason that this project can exist. To them I say:
Thank you.
Our world is a better, kinder,
and more just place
because you are in it.