
By Candace Fleming
Illustrated by Deena So’oteh
Anne Schwartz Books / Random House, 2024
40 pages
978-0-593-37778-9
Ages 6-9
“You are a narwhal—shy, swift, small (for a whale).” Full of sensory detail, this narrative focusing on the life and activities of the “unicorn of the Arctic” begins on a “biting-cold December day,” in the dark of the Arctic, as “you,” a male narwhal, clash your tusk with that of another male. “Clackety-clack!…Are you playing? Fighting? Showing off for a female?” Onomatopoeia is used effectively throughout: “Pshhht!…Ahhhh!” as narwhals surface for air; the “Tik-tik-tik-tik” of their echolocation. In summer, the narwhals migrate, some birthing calves along the way. There are threats: predatory orcas and dwindling food. The pod becomes trapped in an inlet when the surface freezes over; they swim “around and around, clicking and whistling. There’s no way out. No place to breathe.” They use their heads to break through, only to attract the attention of a hungry polar bear on the surface. These moments of drama bring realistic tension and urgency to an otherwise poetic account of the daily and seasonal rhythms of narwhal life. Immersive illustrations full of deep, sweeping blues and greens provide a mix of realistic details (sea lice on a narwhal tusk, spotted narwhal bodies) and awe-inspiring scenes (the glow of the Northern Lights, stars that “sparkle like ice chips”). Additional information is included at volume’s end. ©2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center