A Book About Whales

Andrea Antinori has written a complete book about every kind of whale out there. Did you know that dolphins belong to the whale family?

The table of contents has two dozen entries regarding whales: how they are different from fish, what they eat, who is the biggest, how they breathe, and how they evolved from land mammals to sea mammals. Then the book goes on to discuss ten kinds of whales.

“The first cetacean that appeared on the face/of the earth was the Pakicetus, about fifty million/ years ago.”

“There are three families of whales. A blue whale is longer than a train carriage (car). Different kinds of whales have different ways to blow water out of their blow holes. /The blow of a sperm whale is /instantly recognizable./ It is projected forward /and rises up to 7 feet (2 m).”

The Born Acrobats section defines breaching, lobtailing, spyhopping, and logging. “Logging is generally a group activity, with all the whales in a pod relaxing, “stretched out” in the same direction.”

The Upturned Nose section talks about breathing. “When whales sleep, they remain close/ to the surface in order to breathe. Some even/ like to keep their blowholes out of the water/ while they sleep.”

In the Who is the Biggest section, artwork shows the various types of whales and how they compare to a tree, a hot-air balloon, a T- Rex, and African elephant, and a human.

The Top Qualities section describes echolocation, language, and intelligence. The Special Partnerships section discusses barnacles and remoras.

The book’s color scheme is blue, gray, and white. The end papers are bright blue with white squiggles to represent waves. The large trim size gives plenty of room for large illustrations. There is a bibliography, a helpful index, and a suggestion of places to watch whales by state or country.

The book is filled with facts with anyone who loves or studies whales.  A student could do a thorough report on whales using this book. Even a reviewer can learn a thing or two.