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

The River by Tom Percival

In this book the river itself is a metaphor for the turbulent emotions that a young boy experiences when his precious old dog Atlas dies. BUT none of this is stated explicitly in the text.  

When we meet Rowan he is content. Look at this sentence and think about the words encircled and hug - how do they make you feel?

"Rowan sat beneath his favourite tree, looking out at the hills which encircled his home like a hug. Rowan loved everything about this place, but most of all, he loved ... the river."

The river can be quiet and playful, wild and angry. In winter though, his frozen river makes him feel "as cold and alone as the moon." (you can see this page here)

Spring arrives but the river stays frozen and Rowan continues to feel a deep deep sadness. Summer arrives with flowers in the fields and bird song but the river remains frozen. 

"Then just as autumn was approaching and the leaves were beginning to curl, something remarkable happened."

Rowan finds an injured bird and now he can pour his love onto another living creature. As the bird is healed and Rowan watches it fly high in the sky, the river finally breaks free and the ice melts.

The author’s love of the countryside shines through in the stunning natural panoramas in a palette of colours similar to a Constable landscape. Little Parachutes

The river is a character in its own right and provides a metaphor for Rowan’s emotions. It isn’t the same each day – sometimes it’s calm. Or playful. Or angry. But as Rowan comes to terms with his loss he realises that, just like the river, his own emotions are ever changing. Story Snug

Subtle, beautiful and thought provoking. LoveReading4Kids

I highly recommend this book for your Primary school library.  It is such a gentle and affirming book on the topic of the death of a loved pet.  I don't think I have read another book which so gently tackles this complex topic.  Take a look some other posts about grief and emotions by reading about these books:

Toby

A Last Goodbye

The Rabbit Listened

Here are some other books by Tom Percival. He is such a wonderful illustrator and storyteller:

The Invisible

The Sea Saw

Herman's Holiday

Herman's Letter

Daniel finds a poem by Micha Archer

A vividly illustrated, inventively told opportunity for early readers to grasp the power of language to observe, entertain, and mystify.  Kirkus

Daniel sees a poster advertising a poetry event in the park. Over the next seven days Daniel asks "What is poetry?"  Each answer is, in itself, poetic. Daniel gathers the answers and discovers he has made a poem.  Here is an extract:

Morning dew glistens,
Crisp leaves crunch,
There's a home with many windows
in the old stone wall.

These wise words come from a spider, squirrel and a chipmunk. Daniel also talks to a frog, a turtle, a cricket and an owl.

The words and accompanying illustration on the final page are - well I have to say it - poetic!

I highly recommend you find this book to use with a young class. Yes is it about poetry but it also a simple way to talk about days of the week and will give you a wonderful stimulus for experimenting with collage.

You can see the author/illustrator Micha Archer reading her book here. Here is an audio interview with Micha Archer. Take a look at Micha's web site. There is a video where she shows her a range of art techniques. There are some good discussion ideas here.

The sequel to Daniel finds a poem - Daniel's good day - was published this year. You could also take a look at this book by Laura Purdie Salas - Snowman - Cold = Puddle. You can see the fabulous illustrations by Micha Archer and as a bonus add another book to your 'to read' pile. I love the idea of this equations poetry book.

I would pair Daniel finds a poem with Stanza by Jill Esbaum. I have Stanza on my shopping list but it is sadly out of print and hope to include a review on my blog sometime soon. It is another truly special book.