Meet a Unicorn! OK - a Whale with a Tusk...

 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic 

by Candace Fleming; illus by Deena So’Oteh 

‎48 pages; ages 4-8

Anne Schwartz Books, 2024

theme: ocean, whales, ecology

You are a narwhal – shy, swift, small (for a whale).

Your ivory tusk sprouts from your upper left jaw, “thick as a lamppost, taller than a man.” Which is okay because, now that you’re full grown, you’re at least 16 feet long.  I hope you’ve got a good layer of blubber, because you’re living in the Arctic! On this winter day, when you poke your head through the ice, you spot another male. And so you do what guy narwhals do: you cross tusks. Clackety-clack! They sound like wooden sticks smacking each other.

Are you playing?

Fighting?

Showing off for a female?

What I like about this book: Through lyrical language and luscious art we come to inhabit the world of the narwhal, and meet other arctic creatures – some prey, one predator. When the narwhal dives deep, nearly a mile into the blackness of the ocean, we go too, relying on echolocation to find food. I like how Candace Fleming adds sounds: the clacking of tusks, the ticking of whale sonar. I love that there’s a gate fold that, when you turn the book, you get a very long illustration of the very deep dive to go hunting. I like that the book spans a year in the life of a narwhal, and the way the second-person point of view pulls the reader into the experience. And, of course there is Back Matter! Because we want to know more about the research and the lives of these secretive mammals.

Beyond the Books:

Learn more about narwhals and check out a video at National Geographic and more facts at the World Wildlife Fund.

Compare yourself to a narwhal. Grab a tape measure and some chalk and head out to the nearest sidewalk or driveway. Measure out a 15 or 20-foot-long Narwhal with a tape measure and chalk. If you want to include it’s horn, you’ll need to add another 10 feet! Now lay down at one end of the narwhal and have a friend or parent mark your body length. How many of your body lengths it would take to equal the length of a Narwhal?  

Make a chart to compare narwhals and unicorns. How are they alike? How they are different? For example, they both have horns. But where is the unicorn’s horn, and where is the narwhal’s?

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by Blue Slip Media