The Whale Who Swam Through Time: A Two-Hundred-Year Journey in the Arctic - Hardcover

Boersma, Alex; Pyenson, Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250803020 ISBN 13: 9781250803023

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2022

Synopsis

This sweeping nonfiction picture book The Whale Who Swam Through Time explores the 200-year lifespan of a bowhead whale and the changing environment that surrounds her.

Almost 200 years ago . . .

Our journey begins with the birth of a bowhead whale, the longest-living mammal in the world. Over the course of her life in the Arctic, the bowhead whale witnesses many changes: from an era of peace and solitude to one of oil rigs and cruise liners.

With gorgeous, detailed, and striking illustrations, this well researched and thoughtfully curated nonfiction story captures the magic and beauty of the natural world, while also providing a thoughtful account of how humans have impacted our changing ecosystems and a call-to-action for protecting the environment.

A 2023 OSTB Selected Title

About this title

About the Authors

Alex Boersma is a Canadian scientific illustrator. Her work runs the gamut of science media, from figures for scientific journals to children's book illustrations. Her clients have included the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and her illustrations can be found in The New York Times, National Geographic, and Nature Journal. Her picture books include The Whale Who Swam Through Time, which she also co-wrote with Nick Pyenson.

Nick Pyenson is the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. His work has taken him to every continent, and his scientific discoveries frequently appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, Los Angeles Times, The Economist, Popular Mechanics, USA Today, on NPR, NBC, CBC, and the BBC. Along with the highest research awards from the Smithsonian, he has also received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Obama White House. He lives with his family in Maryland.

Reviews

K-Gr 4-This is a fascinating glimpse of what a bowhead whale might have seen over her lifetime in the last 200 years. The whale's story starts in her infancy-when she's still nursing from her mother and learning about all the things in the ocean around her, including ships. As her life continues, she becomes a mother and teaches her own calf about how to find food and avoid predators, such as humans. The book covers the impact of humans on whales through increased shipping traffic, oil drilling in the Arctic, and decreased sea ice. The authors include back matter, such a diagram of whale anatomy, information about other arctic animals, as well as information about the people who live in the Arctic, and provides readers with background, and ideas for further questions and research. Beautiful artwork offers a means for understanding the scale as well as the grandeur of the location. This would be an excellent introduction to a unit of Arctic study or a discussion of the impact of global climate change. VERDICT Narrative nonfiction at its best, helping readers understand the impact of global warming or even simply wildlife from a unique perspective.-Debbie Tannerα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250803020
• ISBN 13: 9781250803023
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Boersma Alex
• Number of pages: 48