Life after Whale by Lynn Brunelle illustrated by Jason Chin

This book opens with a graceful Blue Whale making a journey from the southern oceans to the warmer waters of the tropics ...

"but today something is different. Her heart is slowing down. It is wearing out. It is pumping less and less oxygen to her lungs, brain, and other internal organs. This year she will not make it to the feeding waters in the north. Her vision blurs and darkens. Her breathing slows. Her awareness fades. Her heart quiets and finally stops. This year, this day, this moment, after ninety years of life, as all her living things must do at some point ... she dies."

This is not the end though. Her death creates a whole new ecosystem.

"Her body will provide shelter and food for millions of creatures for more than a hundred years. A whole new world will arise. Scientists call this whale fall."

Go back and think about the title - yes there is life after the death of the whale.

Talking about the life cycle of living things is always a topic in a Primary School or Elementary School syllabus. Life after Whale is a perfect book for this topic. I am going to say that again - Life after Whale is a perfect book and it is one that you really do need in your school library.

Here are some of my reading discoveries from this splendid book:

• The layers of wax in the ear canal of the whale can show her life journey.
• Her body will take over one month to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
• She lands on 'marine snow' which is microscopic bits of dead animals and plants.
• There are four phases of a whale fall ecosystem - different animals feed on different parts of the whale and the cycle is completed when the krill we meet at the beginning of the book is part of the cycle again at the end.
• Even after 150 years the bones are still providing food for marine creatures.

Here are some activity pages from the US Publisher Holiday House. This video explains a whale fall. 

Brunelle’s prose is both lucid and poetic, while Caldecott-winning illustrator Chin depicts all of these changes in precise but lyrical ways, beginning with views of the living whale arcing majestically through sunlit waters; the artist goes on to show the body resting on the dark, mysterious seafloor as its bones are exposed and scattered by busy hordes of feeders both large and microscopic. ... Grand and engrossing. Kirkus Star review

Chin’s iridescent and highly detailed images are the perfect counterpoint to the absorbing text. This book is ideal for young readers who love simple, clear facts about animals or for older readers who will find the decomposition process fascinating. Educators will also appreciate the clear organization and descriptive writing style. SLJ

As a ninety-year-old blue whale dies, one story ends and another begins. Her body provides food for other creatures before it gradually descends to the depths of the ocean floor. But it doesn’t stop there: her body will sustain life of one kind or another for the next few hundred years. Small marine animals, from fish to crabs to octopuses, pick the skeleton bare before another wave of animals moves in. Eventually, rich nutrients seep into the water, and that water is carried to the surface, where it nourishes krill, the major food source for blue whales. Horn Book

We have a new Science and Technology Syllabus K-6 coming out next year. Here are a few quotes from that document:

Stage 2 (Grades 3 and 4) Students compare living things and identify the life cycles which support the survival of plant and animal species. 

Stage 2 (Grades 3 and 4) What are the similarities and differences between the life cycles of living things?

Life cycles of living things

Inquiry question: What are the similarities and differences between the life cycles of living things?

Students:

• identify that living things have life cycles 

• conduct an investigation into the life cycle of plants and/or animals 

Content Strand Summaries: Living World: The Living World strand explores living things and their needs. The key concepts developed within this strand are: living things have similar characteristics; are interdependent and interact with each other and their environment; living things and their features are related to the environments in which they live. Through this strand, students explore life cycles, structural adaptations and behaviours of living things. These developmental features and characteristics aid survival in particular environments.

It is the end of the school year here in Australia but if you can add this book to your library wish list or better if you can purchase it for your collection I suggest acting quickly. This book retails for AUS$35 but I found one online seller with copies for just AUS$28.

Jason Chin is the illustrator of Watercress which won the Caldecott Medal. I was lucky to read this book in a library last year and ever since I have hunted high and low so I could read it again - I was way too rushed last year. Alas this book is very expensive here in Australia and it is only available in a limited number of local and tertiary libraries.

Secrets of the Saltmarsh by Claire Saxby illustrated by Alicia Rogerson

I am land and water.

I need sunshine and rain.

I clean the air and the water.

I store carbon.

I am always changing.

I am a saltmarsh wetland ...

This pattern of text (quoted from pages 3 and 4) is used through out this book - I am a saltmarsh; I am the ocean; I am water; I am the wind; I am sunlight; we are plants; we are birds; we are the little ones; we are the tiny ones; we are the seasons; I am a cycle of life; I am a mangrove tree.

As you would expect there are four pages of extra facts at the back of this book and glossary and map. 

Secrets of the Saltmarsh is another terrific book published by CSIRO here in Australia. They have a knack for selecting interesting topics and also for pairing the right author illustrator combination. This book is a must add title for all Australian primary schoools.

The opening end papers are filled with birds - sandpiper, spoonbill, whimbrel and grassbird. The back end papers are filled with fish. 

This link will take you to the teachers notes. I am going to predict we will see this book listed by the CBCA judges as a 2025 Eve Pownall notable title and possibly a short listed one too. Take a look at this review from The Bottom Shelf.

Definitions:

Salt marsh, area of low, flat, poorly drained ground that is subject to daily or occasional flooding by salt water or brackish water and is covered with a thick mat of grasses and plants such as sedges and rushes.

A mangrove is a type of coastal tree that can live in harsh saltwater environments. When there are many mangroves living together, it’s called a mangrove forest. 

Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.

Claire Saxby explains her book here. 

Further reading:

• Ocean Conservancy US site
• Salt Marsh facts for kids
• Kent wildlife trust UK site
• 3 minute video about mangroves (upper Primary level)
• Australian mangrove facts for kids 

I tried to find other children's books about the saltmarsh - this one is from the US and published 2007:

I would pair this book with Tanglewood.

I do hope the Teacher-Librarian in my former school has discovered this wonderful book Secrets of the Saltmarsh. Our Grade Two students visit the wetland area near my former primary school every year and I did collect lots of books about mangroves (see below) but this one adds another layer of information to that topic.

Take a look here to see all the fabulous books by Claire Saxby. Alicia Rogerson is the illustrator of One Potoroo: