Pipaluk And The Whales - Hardcover

Himmelman, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792282175 ISBN 13: 9780792282174

Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books, 2002

Synopsis

Based on actual events, Pipaluk and her father enlist the aid of their villagers and even the government to help save a group of whales stranded in a frozen inlet, but only Pipa can figure out a way to finally lead the whales back out to sea.

About this title

Reviews

reSchool-Grade 2-Watercolor and colored-pencil artwork done in soft Arctic hues illustrate this story based on a real incident. In December 1984, off Russia's Chukchi Peninsula, approximately 3000 beluga whales became trapped in winter ice. The villagers of the area, normally hunters of the white whales, worked diligently to keep an area open until the end of February, when the icebreaker Moskva was able to cut a 12-mile channel in the surrounding ice. However, the now-freed whales initially refused to follow the ship, until classical music broadcast from its speakers led them out to open water. Himmelman creates a human girl, Pipaluk, as the focal character, but keeps the whales authentic. Another recent rendition of this story, Steve Schuch's A Symphony of Whales (Harcourt, 1999), also features a little girl as rescuer, but gives the story a more mystical gloss. Himmelman's simply told tale and lovely artwork bring the plight of the whales, the starry winter nights, and the efforts of the rescue team to life for this audience.
Sue Sherif, Alaska State Library, Anchorage
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792282175
• ISBN 13: 9780792282174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32