Whale Song by Nicola Davies illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

"Listen! Listen! Listen! Somewhere in the deep, deep blue, a humpback whale is singing. The sounds shiver through the water ... through the timbers of our boat and we can feel them tingle in our bare feet on the deck, and hear them when we lay our heads against the hull. Sounds so strange, they seem to come from out in space, amongst the stars, not from here on Earth."

This book is partly a poem, partly a glorious work of art, and partly an exploration of the science we know about the songs of whales. Male humpback whales use sounds to communicate and they string the sounds together to create complex songs. There are fourteen places that we know of where humpbacks gather in their breeding season. In each group their songs are the same but different groups sing different songs (I love that idea). If the whales in one group hear a different song "they learn it" and add it to their own melody. Nicola Davies uses the idea of beads on necklaces as a way to describe this. 

"Scientists are still trying to discover the meaning behind humpback whale song. It's like trying to decode a language without a dictionary. Scientists have found that humpback song is more like human language than they first thought, but there is so much more to discover..."

Think about the lyrical language used in this book:

"to make an orchestra of sounds"

"He's stringing sounds together to make patterns, like threading coloured beads onto a string."

"The singing of the male whales is a big part of this jamboree."

And the illustrations are luminous:

I urge you to add this book to your library or to find it in a library to share with your young reading companion. It is available here in Australia from Walker Books and was published in April 2026. The publisher have combined the talents of two utterly splendid book creators for this book - Whale Song. 

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author and Children's Laureate Wales 2025-27. Her many books for children include Tiny, Lots and Grow with Emily Sutton; One World with Jenni Desmond; The Promise and King of the Sky with Laura Carlin; and A First Book of ... Nature, The Sea and Animals with Mark Hearld, Emily Sutton and Petr Horácek respectively. 

Britta Teckentrup has created over 120 books, translated into 30 different languages, including The Memory Tree (Hodder), Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright (Nosy Crow) and The House by the Lake (Walker). Her award-winning artwork has appeared on homeware, clothes and packaging. Britta now lives and works in Berlin with her artist husband, son Vincent, and their cat.

Companion book - this one is absolutely perfect:

The Whales' Song

There have been a few books released recently about whales. I urge you to look for this one:

Life after Whale: The Amazing ecosystem of a whale fall

You could link this news story with this book from ABC news where five whale carcasses have been found. When I heard this on the radio last week I sighed with happiness because I adore it when 'real life' and books, such as Life after Whale, collide. The report says:

Researchers explored the remains during multiple deep-sea submersible trips in 2023, collecting samples and mapping the extent of the necropolis. They found five carcass sites and fossils, including skulls belonging to beaked and baleen whales. The oldest bones date back 5.3 million years. Feeding and living on the carcasses were myriad creatures, large and small, including sea cucumbers, squat lobsters and saltwater clams. Many of them are likely species that have never been documented ... Why did so many whales die here? Maybe they were already living in the area and died of natural causes. A few could have perished from exhaustion or illness caused by deep-sea diving. The area's shape, akin to the letter V, could also have funneled the remains to their resting spot ... "

Read more here. And the BBC have a comprehensive article about this find. 

I also found a couple of other books that will be worth finding:

Read more here on the publisher web page - this book looks more suitable for 

Upper Primary readers - 80 pages

A new Australia title (2026)

Here is the Storylinks review

Here are the teachers notes

The Secret life of whales

Beyond the Shore by Kirli Saunders illustrated by Mark Chester Harding

This book has a gentle and lyrical text exploring the experience of young child standing at the seashore and watching the ocean.

Here are a few lines of the text:

"It is safer on the edge 

where toes bob 

plip plick splish

where sand swirls and sways

encouraging me away

from the yolk-stained shore"

The little girl images the underwater world and the songs of the whales and this made me think of this book:

The Whales Song

Bookseller blurb: It's safer on the edge, where we can walk with our feet on the floor ... but beyond the shore is a world that inspires awe. Will you dive in? Written by award-winning Gunai author Kirli Saunders (OAM), with art by debut picture book illustrator Mark Chester Harding, Beyond the Shore gently encourages young ones to step beyond fear into curiosity.

I am not usually a fan of digital art but it is very appealing in this book. I expect to see Beyond the Shore listed as a CBCA Early Childhood notable for 2026. 

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher Scholastic Australia. 

Mark Chester Harding is a freelance illustrator and musician based in Sydney. He is one half of the band Cooee with Kirli Saunders. Their debut album ‘Messengers’ will be released in February 2026. ‘Beyond the Shore’ written by Kirli Saunders OAM is his debut picture book. 

You could pair this book with the Bluey where she follows her mother along the seashore.  (The Beach Season One episode 26).

Companion book:

The Library of Ever by Zeno Alexander

“Do you swear to venture forth bravely and find the answer to any question, 

no matter the challenge?”

If you mashed together Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth you might come close to the plot of this book - such a wild ride. You will turn the pages so quickly as you read this book desperate to see if Lenora can survive all the mayhem.  

The only extra things I would have liked were a library map and perhaps a Dewey decimal chart showing all the library departments where Lenora was sent by the Chief Librarian Malachi. Lenora goes to the calendar room, the map room and the unknown room which actually has information about tardigrades, all the while she is being chased by the enemy who brings darkness. Along the way her status rises and she is awarded new badges. Lenora has to be very mindful of the library motto:

Knowledge is Light

Bookseller blurb: With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, bored until she discovers a secret doorway into the ultimate library. Maze like and reality-bending, the library contains all the universe's wisdom. Every book ever written, and every fact ever known, can be found within its walls. And Lenora becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian. She rockets to the stars, travels to a future filled with robots, and faces down a dark nothingness that wants to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves.

In the chaos of this story there is also commentary on censorship, the role of libraries as providers of free information, the importance of curiosity, and of course the value of libraries as organised repositories of books, maps, charts, ephemera and so much more. Materials from everywhere and every time period.

"The Forces of Darkness wish to control people, and it is every knowledge that prevents them from doing so. ... They can only rule where there is ignorance, they can only create fear where the truth has been hidden, they can only gain power when the light has been snuffed out. Librarians are their greatest enemy, and we have fought them throughout time, and always will fight them as long as that light burns anywhere, no matter how weakly."

I may not have kept reading this book actually because it all became a little too silly for me but then I took a detour last night and glanced at the Kirkus review. Such is the power of their work that the star they gave The Library of Ever spurred me on to stick with this story although I am not so sure I need to read the sequel. I did enjoy Lenora's common sense, determination, perseverance, and her amazing general knowledge. She certainly adapted well to the roles of Assistant Apprentice Librarian and later Assistant Librarian. 

There are moments in this story that made me smile:

"The tardigrade snarled. 'As far as we tardigrades are concerned, Pluto is and always will be a planet. end of discussion. ...Lenora saw no reason to argue. She had always thought that Pluto seemed like a perfectly fine planet, whatever the adults might tell her. She took out her notebook. Pluto is, always will be, a planet. This she underlined firmly."

"I would like to know,' she said, 'how to find Wales.' 'You've found them,' said the whale. 'We are in fact, beluga whales.' 'Oh,' said Lenora. 'I mean Wales, the place, not whales, the mammal. 'Hmph' replied the whale ... And I suppose you think that just because I am a whale, a mammal, that I automatically know the location of Wales, the place?"

Not the first tale to be set in a universal library but unusually clever in the details and commendably accurate in its own way. Kirkus Star review

At its heart, The Library of Ever is a love letter to librarians and an ode to the importance of access to knowledge and information for everyone. The Winged Pen

Here is a fun interview with the author and the web page for Zeno Alexander. I picked up my copy of The Library of Ever at a recent charity book sale for $2. This book was published in 2019 but it is still available as is the sequel:

Bookseller blurb: Lenora returns to the magical Library—which holds every book ever known on its shelves. But she discovers the Library is under new management, its incredible rooms and corridors turned sinister and oppressive. Lenora quickly connects with a secret resistance that’s trying to free knowledge from the darkness threatening it. Her new friends introduce her to an ancient lost city, hang-gliding, and mathematical beings larger than the universe itself.

Companion books:

The 113th Assistant Librarian

Lost in a Book

The Lost History

Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library

The Lost Library

The Phantom Tollbooth

How to Sail to Somewhere by Ashleigh Barton

"Bea turns away, blinking her eyes back into focus. She can't believe that, after all this time dreaming about it, Somewhere is actually so close she can see it."

There are two girls in this story, Bea and Arabella, and quite unexpectedly their lives collide. Arabella is in Bea's class at school but Arabella is one of those popular girls who always has a swarm of other girls around her. Bea has never even spoken to her. 

"Arabella has always seemed like the kind of person who doesn't want to speak to Bea, but may be Bea has been wrong about that too. ... hanging with Arabella is like hanging with royalty. Arabella is pretty and rich and confident. She's also somehow stony, like nothing bothers her ... This makes her untouchable, alluring and being her friend is an instant ticket to being popular. And Bea can't understand it, but popular is all anyone seems to want to be. They're not concerned about being nice or smart or clever ... or resourceful or creative or pioneering or anything like that."

What Bea doesn't know is that Arabella is not really friends with all of those girls. Bea, herself, has one or two good friends but they always head away from this small seaside town in the summer. She usually has her uncle to keep her company because her extremely busy parents disappear very early each day and always return late at night. Usually, summer is her time of joy when her uncle Bryon comes to stay. He is a fantastic uncle and together they have so much fun but this year he has not come and no one has told her why or if they have told her she simply does not understand. Before he left last year Byron showed Bea a map and said that next summer, they would sail together to a small star-shaped island off the coast called Somewhere. 

Here is a description of Byron:

His smell "that combination of freshly washed cotton, chewing gum and his peppermint shampoo."

And "the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed and how his smile was always slightly crooked or the way he always listened when you spoke, watching you like what you had to say was genuinely interesting even if you were just telling him why sandwiches are better without their crusts."

I mentioned there are two girls in this story. Everyone knows Arabella lives in a mansion with solid gold doorknobs and marble walls and an indoor swimming pool and fifteen cars. Bea is amazed to be invited there by Arabella and then she is even more amazed to discover none of this is true. And then Arabella shows Bea that she also has a map of the island named Somewhere and suddenly this summer it seems these two girls are destined to become friends.  The girls make a plan to sail to Somewhere. Bea wants to go there because it was the place her uncle promised they would go to together but why does Arabella so desperately want to go there and also how is the old fisherman Ray connected with all of this? And what about Uncle Bryon he is not here and yet somehow he seems to be directing the action with mysterious clues, secret keys, hidden rooms and one very special book. I loved the way the girls used their local library to search for more information about the island. 

There is something truly comforting about a story that is filled with delicious food. Ashleigh Barton has included a wonderful cafe in her story. Arabella's dad works there, and he is happy, as all good chefs are, to share his food with an appreciative audience. Bea is given food at home but it is nowhere near as delicious as the food served at Fishbone. Older readers might make the connection about the nourishment of food and Bea's need for comfort. Arabella has delicious food from her father but she too has an emptiness inside because she is holding onto a dreadful misunderstanding about her own absent mother. 

Add this book to your book shopping list - it is sure to be enjoyed by keen readers aged 9+. And after reading this book you will also want to go to your own local fish cafe or perhaps enjoy a picnic of cheese and pickle sandwiches, honey cake with strawberry jam and homemade lemonade. 

If you are book talking this new Australian book with your library group I would begin with these sentence:

"Where are you going to go?"  "I don't know. I'll go anywhere. Somewhere."

How could this be misinterpreted?  What if there is an island off the coast called Somewhere?

Here are some detailed teachers notes by Dr Robyn Sheahan-Bright. And here are the webpages for Ashleigh Barton. How to Sail to Somewhere was published just four days ago so it will be in your local bookshop right now!

Publisher blurb: Beatrice Glass - Bea - lives in a tiny fishing village that's sleepy all year until the summertime, when the tourists flock in and most of the locals leave. But summer is also when Bea's favourite person in the entire world, her fun and hilarious uncle, Byron, comes to stay. On their last day together the previous summer, Byron had given Bea an intriguing antique book containing a map of Somewhere, a mysterious island off the coast, and promised that next summer they'd sail to Somewhere together for their best adventure yet. That was last year. Now summer has arrived, but Byron hasn't. And now it looks like he never will. Are the book and Byron's disappearance linked? Byron has left some clues for Bea - a scavenger hunt of sorts designed to bring her and her new friend, Arabella, together and give Bea one last magical summer. Could Somewhere hold the key to both Bea's and Arabella's future?

My 2025 CBCA Younger Readers notable and short list predictions were totally wrong but anyway I am going to say that How to Sail to Somewhere is sure to be a 2026 notable - fingers crossed. 

There’s magic in this story. ...  a joyous magic that comes with discovering something new, making new friends and going on an adventure that means something to both of the main characters. Loss is a central theme in this novel, showcasing the power of facing how you feel about loss, and family finding ways to talk about things that are painful for everyone. Because not everyone always knows how to address things. ...  Grief is a powerful emotion that everyone responds to differently, and I liked that this book acknowledged that. This is a quiet gem of a book that will have something in it for every reader. The Book Muse

It’s evocative and emotional, without being syrupy or sanctimonious. I predict that readers will not only fall in love with these characters, but with the setting itself. Here’s one to add to forthcoming ‘best of’ lists without a doubt. Just so Stories

Companion books:

This is book is a perfect match with How to Sail to Somewhere - highly recommended.

Junonia

Summer of the gypsy moths

Jubilee

This Morning I met a Whale by Michael Morpurgo illustrated by Christian Birmingham

Michael, as the title tells you, meets a whale. But whales are not supposed to be in his part of the river Thames. And whales are not supposed to be able to communicate directly with humans but this whale can and he has come specifically to talk to a child. His grandfather has told him a child will listen and a child will share his important message about degradation of the environment and the distress humans are causing whales. 

"He showed me the bottom of the sea, a coral reef lay dying and littered with rubbish. I saw a sperm whale being winched bleeding out of the sea, a leatherback turtle caught up in vast fishing nets, along with sharks and dolphins. There was an albatross, hanging there, limp and lifeless. ... He showed me skies so full of smoke that day had become night, and below them the forests burning. ... You are killing the world. Tell a child ... only a child will put it right."

Companion book:

Bookseller blurb: At sunrise, young Michael spots a whale on the shores of the Thames and thinks he must be dreaming. But the creature is real and it has a message for him – one that only an open-minded child can deliver to the rest of the world. The whale warns that the earth’s days are numbered and that humans must put right the damage they are doing, but how can Michael fulfil his promise to tell others when neither his teacher nor his classmates will believe his story? Within hours, the city and the wider world have learned of London’s remarkable visitor, and all eyes are on the whale’s struggle against the receding tide. Michael must now join his new friend in a race against time to reach the ocean, and hold fast to his promise in the race to save the world itself.

Do you have a favourite children's book illustrator? I have lots - but one that would most certainly make my top twenty list would be Christian Birmingham. 

This is a slim book with only 80 pages but it is also a powerful story with a strong environmental message. Even though the publication date is 2009 I think this book is still available. Readers in your library will love this story even more when they discover it is based on real events. In 2006 a whale did swim up the Thames as far as a Battersea Bridge and sadly, like the whale in this book, she did not survive. 

You might have this book in your school library because it is a Premiers Reading Challenge title Grades 5&6 [1038]. 

Michael Morpurgo was 2003–2005 Children's Laureate, has written over 100 books and is the winner of many awards, including the Whitbread Children's Book Award, the Smarties Book Prize, the Blue Peter Award and the Red House Children's Book Award. His books are translated and read around the world and his hugely popular novel War Horse is now both a critically acclaimed stage play and a highly successful film. 

Christian Birmingham is considered one of the best young illustrators working today. After receiving a degree in Illustration from the Exeter College of Art he has gone on to illustrate many books for children such as A Kitten Called Moonlight by Martin Waddell and several titles by Michael Morpurgo, including The Wreck of the Zanzibar, named the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year in 1995.

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.

The Great Storm Whale by Benji Davies

Grandma tells little Noi about her own childhood when her father made her a wooden flute. She loved playing her flute to a whale who swam near the island. The whale came past every summer until one year it didn't arrive. One night there was a wild storm - so wild the family had to abandon their small wooden home and head to higher ground. Eventually the islanders were rescued but the little wooden cottage by the sea was destroyed - everything was gone including her precious wooden flute. 

"They had to find a new island, (and) start again." 

Then one day some things started to wash up on the shore. Bits and pieces from their old island home such as cups, coffee pots, chairs and pieces of wood. Have you guessed what was found next? The ending of this story is certain to bring you joy. 

Publisher blurb: As a fearsome storm blows around Noi’s house, his grandma tells of an unforgettable friendship between a little girl and a whale, many storms ago. But as she finishes her tale of perseverance and new beginnings, Noi soon realises it’s part of their own story, too. This glorious addition to the bestselling Storm Whale series celebrates the stories and the love that are passed down through generations.

This is the fourth book in this splendid series - you should add all of them to your school library and add them to your 'to read/borrow' list if you are looking for a set of books to share with your own children.

The Storm Whale

The Storm Whale in Winter

The Great Storm Whale reminded me of The Whales' Song.

The Whales' Song

You could also look for this book:

Storm Whale

The Secret Life of Whales by Rena Ortego translated by Paula Meiss

This book is a perfect example of the way non fiction has evolved for our children. The publisher Thames and Hudson have designed a large format book filled with facts about whales all presented in varying page formats. There are  pages with frames and others with comparisons of whale sizes and colours. I especially love the page filled with sleeping whales floating upright in the ocean and page that talks about whales songs. It is filled with a partial image of a huge blue whale swimming across the page. See inside the book here. 

Young readers will enjoy this book which is designed for browsing. There is no index or contents list but this does not seem to matter because each page has a huge heading:

The Cetacean Family; Baleen and Tooth whales; Whale evolution; Migration routes; Fins; Whale behaviour; The blow; The dive sequence; How whales feed. The final pages look at past and present threats to whales such as plastic and fishing nets. 

This book is sure to spark curiosity and add to your understanding of all the different whales in our oceans. Here is the web site for Rena Ortego. She lives in Barcelona.  Here is the Spanish cover of her book:

Wanderer by Victor Kelleher

"Remember Dane, ... You're more than a wanderer now. You've become a keeper of the old knowledge. A Book Holder. It's who you are, who you're meant to be ... 

one of the precious few ..."

In the Golden Years people had books and libraries and perhaps life was easier? But they must have some terrible things because the world is now so damaged. The Clans hold power using terror and violence against people who are barely surviving in small settlements. These fierce warriors are ruthless and extremely dangerous but animals are dangerous too. What did the people from the past do to the wild creatures of the earth?

"It could have affected the animals too ... Is that maybe why they hate us so much?' ... 'Think about it Put yourself in their place ... You're a dolphin, say or an orca, or a big cat in the forest, and people do cruel things to you. They take away your food, you hunting grounds, your freedom."

Dane has seen the death of his parents and he has become a wanderer. His grief is deep so it feels as though he is actually running away. He has a few essential tools such as a flint and knife along with his precious kayak. As this story opens Dane sees some smoke on an island. He decides to investigate and he meets a wise woman who has survived several attacks by the Clan. 

Megan offers him food and advice. Dane's kayak is in need of repairs. Megan tells Dane about a skilled craftsman named Garth and so after spending a short time with Megan, Dane sets off to find Garth little knowing this will be the beginning of a long and perilous journey. He also has no idea he is about to meet his travelling companion  - a girl named Lana. Lana has an amazing skill. When she sings, she is able to calm wild animals on land and in the sea. Lana can also sense danger well before it arrives in fact all of her sense are very finely tuned and this is because she is blind but there is no way this is an obstacle for Lana. She is a fearless and loyal companion and she and Dane make a wonderful team out in the wild ocean. Their purpose it to reach Elysia where there is supposed to be a library. Dane has one book (books are rare and precious objects in this future world and nearly all have been destroyed by the Clan). He also has a book from Megan and later a small collection of ten titles rescued when the clan attack Garth's hideaway. 

The writing in this book is powerful. You will feel the danger, the cold, the hunger and the pain from horrible wounds inflicted on Dane by Kurt, leader of the Clan. Kurt has his own motivation for chasing Lana and the longer his hunt goes on the more a madness overtakes him making a very dangerous combination of rage, deadly weapons and insanity. 

Along the way Lana and Dane meet other wise people one of whom is a woman named the Sealer. She tells them to avoid two dangerous islands as they travel south to Elysia - when I read this part of the story I desperately hoped Dane and Lana would heed her warning but alas they do not. The scenes on Skull Island and later Barter Island are filled with dreadful violence which is why I am listing Wanderer as a Young Adult book for ages 13+. These places reminded me of Where the world ends by Geraldine McCaughrean. Elysium is from Homer's Odyssey and means a place or state of ideal happiness - a paradise.  

Here are a few descriptions to give you a flavour of this story:

The clan: "Even at this distance Dane could make out their fur tunics, their heavily tatooed arms and face, their hair tied into upright tufts. ... Like Danes own weapons, clipped to the side of the kayak, they were fashioned mainly from the debris of another age - one long-since passed - a fabled time known widely as the Golden Years."

"Karl had bought just ten warriors with him. They entered the square in a single phalanx, each of them dressed resplendently in feathered cloaks and painted leather tunics and leggings. Colour ochres had been smeared across their tattooed faces giving them a fierce animal appearance ..."

I do need to also mention there are some interesting book references scattered through out the story many of which  are shared in the evenings by Lana and others they meet. Stories such as Shakespeare, Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, Hansel and Gretel, The Hobbit,The Piped Piper, Moby Dick, and Charles Dickens. It was interesting to hear Karl quote Tamburlaine because I recently read this book - Tamburlaine's Elephants. The story is also book ended with two lines from an poem by Arthur Hugh Clough (1855). You can hear the whole poem here. 

"Say not the struggle nought availeth, the labour and the wounds are vain."

You can read the blurb for Wanderer here.

Wanderer is also a homage to the power of books and stories, in the hope that if they keep the books safe they can help rebuild their world. Lamont

The novel explores themes of courage and tenacity, resilience and ingenuity, loyalty and friendship, survival and hope. And it is a celebration and testament to the power of story and books, and the wealth and comfort these provide to us mere mortals. Kids' Book Review

Wanderer was short listed for the NSW Premier's literary award - Patricia Wrightson Award. Here is what the judges said:

With danger at every turn and constant action that grinds to a dramatic climax, Wanderer by Victor Kelleher grips the reader from the start, never letting up on the drama, tension, and conflict. This novel stood out for its strong narrative voice and for its child protagonists who remain in control of their own destinies throughout. Theirs is a high-stakes, life-and-death struggle against the decaying, lawless world around them as they must battle and attempt to outwit adults, wild animals, and nature itself. 

This middle-grade novel is set in a dystopian future where ocean levels have risen and society has crumbled. Young Dane and his new friend, Lana, must complete a perilous quest that focuses on special treasures: precious, rare books. And, yet, Wanderer is also much more than this. It’s a tale of friendship, courage, endurance, and a warning of what the future may hold for humanity. Eagle Books an imprint of Christmas Press

This is the first book written by Victor Kelleher in many years. I loved his previous books - The Forbidden Paths of Thual (1979); The Hunting of Shadroth (1981) and Taronga (1986). I did enjoy this newest book especially the cliff hanger scene just twenty pages from the end. Victor Kelleher is a highly awarded Australian author so I was a little puzzled that this newest book did not have a list of all his past titles. This is a book feature I use check off other books I have read.

I have a funny anecdote about this author. I worked in five schools as a Teacher-Librarian.  In 1996 I visited my former/final school for the first time. This appointment was a transfer not a merit position but the Principal decided to interview me. She asked a senior primary teacher from her staff to attend this "interview". The Principal considered this teacher to be well read and so between them they had set up a "trick question". The teacher asked do you have a favourite book by Victor Kelleher.  Looking back this seems so funny. I wonder why they picked him.  I answered with the three books I listed here - I think this means I passed the "test". 

Taronga

Companion books - Wanderer made me think of books about Vikings and other people from ancient times rather than dystopian worlds:

The Young Vikings

She Wolf

Tarin of the Mammoths book one

Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland

"Excuse me, whale ... why did you leave the ocean behind to live on the land instead?"

The whales, many different kinds, walk out of the ocean. At first the towns people are, mostly, delighted but things start to go horribly wrong and something needs to be done. STOP - there must be a reason why the whales have moved onto the land. Thank goodness one child asks this all important question.

Walk of the whales is told in rhyme which is a very difficult form but one which many new authors try to employ. Nick Bland understands the form and he makes it work with his story so well.

Walk of the Whales was entered in our CBCA Book of the Year awards (Early Childhood) and it was a notable title, a short listed title and an honour book. I would share this book with children aged 8+ which oddly is beyond the age for the CBCA Early Childhood judging which is listed as 0-6. Here is a video where Nick talks about his book. If you have a Storybox library subscription you can hear/see this book read by Tamala Shelton. See inside this book and read more about the story at Paperbark Words.

Nick Bland has delivered a beautifully crafted, original, and thought-provoking story about ocean pollution with imagination, truth, and humour.  The serious subject of waste building up in our oceans has been cleverly tackled by this simple story as it seeks to explain to this young audience how humanity, and our lifestyle, have affected the natural world. Reading Time

The judges said: The magic and mystery of childhood imaginings are combined with the grand possibilities of illustrations, and a profound message about humanity’s interconnection with the planet. This weighty message is handled with a delicate touch, rhythmic text and a balance of imagination, humour and truth. There is a touching moment when a child queries the situation and the emotion in the whale’s blunt reply is beautifully framed by the tear in its eye. Less about pollution, this is a book about possibilities: the exchange of rubbish for the whales foregrounds the principle that for every action in nature, there is a consequence and there is always a fresh story and connection to discover.

Things to discuss/notice

• Visual jokes - "Presenting Whale Lake"  ballet
• The role of the mass media 
• Phrases - "Up and downs"
• Types of whales in the illustrations (spend some time on the title page)
• Themes of protest, disruption.
• Link this book to The emperor's New clothes - it is a child who sees the truth
• Research Greta Thunberg - why did Nick Bland call his character Freda?
• Listen to some whale songs
• Why are people now growing plankton? What is plankton? Which whales eat this?
• Discuss the concepts of opportunism andconsumerism
• Problem and solution - what might have happened if the protest movement in the town turned violent?

Design features I appreciate in this book include the debossed title, the full page illustrations which convey the enormity of this ocean creature, the small 'jokes' in the illustrations such as the little dog who is tied to the park bench and the skateboarder who has his board stuck in huge cracks in the road, and the farm scene with a 'no whales' sign. There is also a very poignant moment in this book where we see a tear falling from the eye of a whale.

Most Australian children are sure to have seen this book during or in the lead up to our Australian children's book week but I do hope this book will reach an international audience too. 

I would pair this book with:

Whale in a Fishbowl

Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem

It is good to see Nick Bland has written a serious book. The message is important he has maintained a light touch so this is a book that will appeal to children and adults. Here are a few of his well known titles:

The Very Brave Bear

Nick Bland first came to my attention with these books:

King Pig