Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem

by Melissa Stewart, Rob Dunlavey (Illustrator)

Overview

"This fascinating nonfiction picture book filled with stunning illustrations details the end of life for a whale, also known as a whale fall, when its body sinks to the ocean floor and becomes an energy-rich food source for organisms living in the deep sea."--Publisher marketing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593380604
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/14/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	255,012
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD1060L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Melissa Stewart has written more than 200 science books for children, including Tree Hole Homes: Daytime Dens and Nighttime Nooks; the ALA Notable Book Feathers: Not Just for Flying and the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor title Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs. She co-authored 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books and edited the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-Winning Authors Reveal the Secret of Engaging Writing. Melissa maintains the award-winning blog Celebrate Science and serves on the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators board of advisors.

Rob Dunlavey is the illustrator of In the Woods by David Elliott, which received three starred reviews, and Owl Sees Owl by Laura Goodwin, which garned four starred reviews and was named a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, among others. His artwork has been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Businessweek, and the Los Angeles Times.

Editorial Reviews

2022-11-16
The carcass of a whale is a gift to the sea.

When a whale dies, its body sinks to the ocean floor, but that’s not the end of its useful life. For the next 50 years, it will continue to provide nourishment to a series of deep-sea creatures. Stewart takes her readers 5,000 feet down into the East Pacific Ocean to watch the procession of scavengers who will feast on the remains of a 70,000-pound gray whale—and sometimes each other. First come the hagfish and the sleeper sharks. Later there will be zombie worms and the squat lobsters who eat them. Some microbes “form thick, colorful mats that spread across the bones,” while other microbes live inside the mussels and tubeworms that are also attracted to the carcass. It’s a thriving new sea floor ecosystem. The exemplary backmatter tells us that scientists have identified over 500 species that are in some way connected to a whale fall. The author has chosen examples with names—“snubnose eelpouts,” “sea pigs,” “blob sculpin”—that delight. The smoothly written text is set directly on evocative blue-toned underwater scenes that make good use of light and texture. The backmatter’s added facts about the 22 animals featured will inform science-inclined older readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An intriguing and effective look at an unfamiliar world, well suited for reading aloud. (more information on whale falls, selected sources, resources for further exploration) (Informational picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews

Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List • Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Nominee • Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices List • National Science Teaching Association Outstanding Science Trade Book • Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year

“Great for researchers—and gentle enough for even the most squeamish audiences—this also makes a great read-aloud.” —Booklist

"The exemplary backmatter tells us that scientists have identified over 500 species that are in some way connected to a whale fall... An intriguing and effective look at an unfamiliar world, well suited for reading aloud." —Kirkus Reviews

"Dunlavey’s striking waterscapes gently portray death and the new life that flourishes in its aftermath, with inset close-ups that highlight the anatomical details of the smallest of the ocean creatures." —The Horn Book

From the Publisher