A Huffington Post Honorable Mention in "Best Deep Dive" Category.
On the New York Public Library's List of 100 Books for Reading & Sharing
“While excellent nonfiction allows readers to learn something completely new, it also has the ability to make readers see something familiar with fresh eyes. The Blue Whale does exactly that. . . You think you know blue whales. Poor thing. You have much to learn. Start with this book.”
-- Travis Jonker, School Library Journal
“whale lovers will breach with happiness over this rich, artful mix of fact and frolic.”
-- Kirkus Reviews
★“Desmond discusses the whale’s size, how it eats, and its various capabilities, in sentences that seem destined to leave readers’ jaws permanently dropped . . . A thorough, rewarding tribute to a majestic animal.”
-- STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly
“Filled with strikingly beautiful watercolor illustrations, the book shows what impossible fun it would be to hang out in such close proximity to the majestic blue whale.”
-- Abby McGanney Nolan, The Washington Post
“This is one of those nonfiction books whose facts somehow make me cry. It’s partly the set up in the author’s note that blue whales are few in number due to human activity, from hunting to pollution. But it’s not just that. It’s the way this material is handledfrom how the text is constructed to the dreamy illustrations.” -- This Picture Book Life
“Jenni Desmond celebrates in the marvelous nonfiction children’s book The Blue Whale a loving science lullaby about our planet’s biggest creature, and a beautiful addition to the finest children’s books celebrating science.” – Brain Pickings
“A work of nonfiction that understands that true expertise is born out of curiosity. Filtering the storyline through one inquisitive young child, Desmond joyfully presents facts about the earth's largest mammal in a manner that is both accessible and engaging, and will definitely spark the reader's curiosity.” – Huffington Post
"Fascinating information about this giant whale is passed on through spectacular drawings comparing the whale's bigness to the child's smallness. The book is both fun and full of surprising information about this wonderful creature." Vermont Country Sampler
05/01/2015
Gr 1–3—This delightful picture book provides a brief overview of these majestic creatures, from the perspective of a young boy absorbed in a volume about blue whales. (In a fun twist, the boy is revealed to be reading this very book.) Rich, warm, and imaginative, the illustrations support the clear, accessible text effectively, conveying the facts in a charming and accessible way that will easily resonate with kids. For instance, a page that states that blue whales weigh as much as 55 hippopotami is accompanied by an illustration of the boy sitting atop a pile of pachyderms, while a spread devoted to the vast quantities of milk whale calves drink features an image of 50 plastic milk jugs. Desmond includes endearing details as well, such as the boy's childlike pictures of these marine mammals, and her affection and admiration for the species is evident throughout, down to the last page, which depicts the boy asleep on a bedlike raft as a blue whale dives below the surface. VERDICT Budding cetologists will enjoy this lovingly crafted work.—Maggie Chase, Boise State University, ID
2015-03-03
With playful observations and comparisons, Desmond presents a fount of information about "the largest living creature on our planet."Its "heart is as big as a small car," its average weight of 160 tons is "about the same as a heap of 55 hippopotami," and because the krill it eats "are bright orange, so too is a whale's poo." Desmond doesn't depict the poo but she does show the krill, along with a pile of hippos, the 50 ethnically diverse people who could fit into a blue whale's mouth, 50 jugs of milk that represent a whale calf's daily consumption, and other vivid infographics. These illustrations are all done in a loose cartoon style with frequent views of huge, gracefully bowed cetaceans filtered through the imagination of a capering Caucasian lad capped with a red crown and clutching this very volume. The slightly elliptical narrative leaves actual young readers who might be hazy on what "frequency of their sound" means or just why capturing whales for scientific study is "unethical" to wonder. That opening reference to "largest living creature" may cause confusion too, as blue whales are the biggest animals but not the planet's biggest living organisms (an honor that belongs to a colossal fungus). Still, whale lovers will breach with happiness over this rich, artful mix of fact and frolic. (map) (Informational picture book. 6-8)