Reviews (4)

Humphrey the lost whale
I think this book is good because it is a true story about a lost humpback whale that goes into the Sacramento River. I like this book because we are studying marine mammals in class.

Reading Rainbow
I first saw this book on Reading Rainbow, one of my favorite PBS shows as a kid. The story fascinated me, and I'm glad I was able to get my hands on a copy. It's about a whale who can't seem to stay with his family (which all kids can identify with at one time or another), and how the community helps him find them again.

The best whale "true story."
The kind of book you think of when you're looking for a good whale story.Lots of personality and drama, and a super read-aloud for kids even asyoung as 4.Another fun whale story is The Whale Comedian, which is morehumorous and whimsical, but, like Humphrey, shows what kids like most: howwe can be friends with these exciting sea creatures. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Mammals    2. Animals - Marine Life    3. Children's 4-8    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 2-3    6. Historical - United States - General    7. Humpback whale    8. Humphrey (Whale)    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Juvenile literature    11. People & Places - United States    12. Whales    13. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (21)

Is it a song or a book?
Children will get a first, cheerful lesson about the natural world by becoming acquainted with an enchanting baby beluga. The illustrations are a joy, and the song's rhythm and rhyme make it easy to remember and sing.

Raffi does it again!
This is a great multicultural book that you can sing/read that has a great soothing melody.Watch out, though, once you start singing this song, it'll be stuck in your head for a long time.

Baby Beluga - great book and story for lessons in life
The book "Baby Beluga" is special to me because it is a story of my favorite sea creatures' daily adventures "in the deep blue sea". It inspired me to want to swim like Baby Beluga (a little white whale whose skin shines brightly in dark places and is gentle to people).
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Subjects:  1. Animals - Marine Life    2. Animals - Pets    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children's songs    5. Children: Grades 1-2    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Songs    9. Texts    10. Whales    11. Animal stories    12. Early learning / early learning concepts    13. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (1)

good science book for young readers
This is yet another fine addition to a great series for young children. It contained quite a bit of information on whales, but not too much for young readers to digest. The illustrations could have been a bit more varied. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    2. Children: Kindergarten    3. General    4. Humpback whale    5. Humpback whales    6. Juvenile literature    7. Mammals    8. Whales    9. Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Technology / General   

Reviews (2)

Perfect science and read-aloud book.
A wonderfully succinct overview of the blue whale and it's habits. ONE OF THE BEST WHALE BOOKS AVAILABLE!
I'm a whale researcher who has spent much of the last 12 years studying blue whales in the North Pacific. I'm also a mom who loves children's literature. Rarely do I see a book that is so accurate factually while it is captivating and magical! The illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone who has children who are facinated by whales. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Marine Life    2. Blue whale    3. Children's 4-8 - Nature    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Juvenile literature    7. Whales    8. Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals / Marine Life   

Reviews (3)

Enjoyable book
I started reading this book to my son when he was less than 2 years old, he loves it and asks for it often before bed.Now that he is 2 1/2 he pretends to be Moby Dick or one of the harpooners.The drawings are poetically evocative and full of detail of water, ships, adventure and nature.The story line is true to the original and still interesting to this mom, even after many many readings.I highly recommend.

A White Whale for the Wee Ones
This marvelous summation of Melville's classic novel succeeds in conveying the essense of that great work in just 32 pages without the implicit disrespect for the original that all too often afflicts such adaptations. The language of this fine retelling evokes the rich and complex flavor of the original without rendering the story in any way unintelligible to its young audience. I was especially pleased that Drummond chose to keep Ishmael as the first-person narrator of the story; somehow, a third-person retelling would seem at odds with the intimate tone in which Ishmael shared his epic tale with the reader. The bold, colorful illustrations that illuminate this handsome volume serve as an effective enhancement to, rather than a distraction from, the meaning of the text. I suspect that more than one young reader may someday approach Melville's text with enthusiasm and not dread as a consequence of having read or heard this fine picture book in the dimly remembered past.

Well rounded but a little intense
The book has to be good to be considerd a litterary classic. Melvilles book about the obssesive Ahab, the Harpooner Quequay, the former teacher Ishimial and the White Whale is an excelent read but it may be too intense for younger readers. The hellish obssesion of Ahab may be a bit to much for some children. With all of that being said I do think that everyone at some time must read this it is a work of art. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    3. Children: Kindergarten    4. Classics    5. Fiction    6. Sea stories    7. Whales    8. Whaling   

Reviews (13)

Outstanding field guide
This book is extremely useful to both the general reader and to those with a serious interest in cetaceans. The book is well organized for quick reference and beautifully illustrated to aid in species identification in the field. Cetaceans are grouped by family and unique characteristics are clearly defined and illustrated. In addition the book is lightweight and easily carried on a boat trip. Highly recommended.

useful but not perfect
My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify.My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!

The Ultimate Cetacean Field Guide!
This book clearly deserves more than five stars for the great joy it will make available to you in the future by encouraging you to do more cetacean watching.Read more

Subjects:  1. Cetacea    2. Identification    3. Mammals    4. Marine Life    5. Marine Mammals    6. Nature    7. Nature / Field Guide Books    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Pictorial works    10. Reference    11. Nature / Marine Life   

Subjects:  1. Alaska    2. Animals - Marine Life    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Family life    6. Juvenile Nonfiction    7. Juvenile literature    8. Killer whale    9. People & Places - General    10. Salmon fishing    11. Sports & Recreation - Camping & Outdoor Activities    12. Travel    13. Aquatic creatures   

Reviews (3)

My Child's Favorite!
This book is the greatest.It folds out had has great pictures.I am going to order a second copy, since the first one is worn out from excessive use.

Sleep Safe Little Whale
We read Sleep Safe Little Whale to our son every night before bed...he is almost one year old.Our sonenjoys the lilting song of Sleep Safe Little Whale and the sweet pictures of all of the different animals. It is a great length. The repetion, song like quality, endearing illustrations, and the sweetness of it make Sleep Safe our favorite book.

I MUST buy another Sleep Safe, Little Whale!
This book is absolutely charming.The words have a melodious lilt to them, and the pictures are warm and beautiful.It is good cuddle time reading and soft fun for the eyes. Its confident message makes us ALL feel safer, as though someone IS ALWAYS THERE watching over us.My granddaughter loves the one I found accidentally in a bookshop!Another granddaughter is to be born soon.I must find another one for her. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Bedtime & Dreams    3. Bedtime Stories    4. Children's Baby - Picturebooks    5. Children: Babies & Toddlers    6. Fiction    7. Infancy    8. Sleep    9. Specimens    10. Toy and movable books   

Reviews (10)

Beautiful
I bought this book over ten years ago while living in London as a student. Now, married with 3 children, it is a family favorite. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the story is told in a magical tone. We love to whisper the words on the last page -it always captivates the kids. The part of the story that discusses the purposes of the whale long ago is a bit advanced for small children, but for the older ones it promoted conversation & learning. Buy this book in hardcover to ensure it lasts longer. A WONDERFUL MUST-HAVE for anyone with an imagination!!

Beautiful, loving story, exceptional paintings.
As a homeschooling parent I read this book with my children as we were doing a unit study on sound. Not my niece's favorite
First, let me say that the illustrations in this book are exquisit.The oil paintings are absolutely fabulous.However, they are a little dark and my niece seems to have a hard time relating to them at times.Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 4-8    2. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 2-3    4. Fiction    5. General    6. Grandmothers    7. Juvenile Literature    8. Whales    9. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Reptiles & Amphibians    2. Children's 9-12 - Animals/Pets    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Humpback whale    6. Juvenile literature    7. Whales    8. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Marine Life   

Reviews (3)

An attractive animal book, but a stretch as an alphabet book
This is an interesting and attractive introductory book on animals of the Northwest for young readers. However, since it's written at about 3.5 reading level, it may be too difficult for its intended audience. O is for Orca & out-of-the-ordinary!
This is the alphabet the Pacific Northwest way: A is for auklet, B for black bear, C for coyote...from Alaska thru British Columbia & Washington down to Oregon, the natural world is featured in glorious photos & simple, illustrative text. Lovely full-color, full page photos of aneagle, a Haida totem pole with a glorious stag before it, a mistyenchanting view of Mount Ranier, a mountainside of Xerophyllum tenax. Awonderful way to learn our ABCs. .................

Great pictures with good text of NW animals.
Really nice pictures that kids can relate to, clear and self explanatory.Text gives a bit of information about the animals and other things mentioned.Good for young readers.Good lead into for animal study. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alaska    2. Alphabet    3. Alphabet books    4. Children's 4-8    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    6. Children: Grades 1-2    7. English language    8. General    9. Juvenile literature    10. Northwest, Pacific