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.

Tiny Monsters by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Subtitle: The strange creatures that live on us, in us, and around us.

"Be warned: after meeting some of these tiny monsters, you may never look at your cereal, your pillow, or your eyelashes in quite the same way."

Another impressive outing by a popular pair.  Kirkus

Books like this are so special and intriguing and are sure to greatly appeal to young readers. Yes it is true you can Google anything today but this book will take you so much further and all in one easy to access and very appealing format.

The 'monsters' in this book are fascinating but also slightly nauseating. You are sure to grimace when you read about the pork tapeworm, bedbugs and the bluebottle fly. Maggots of these last ones are found in dead animals. There are twenty-four creatures in this book.

My favourite micro creature is the tardigrade probably because they are survivors and some were even sent into space.

Image Source: Science 4 fun

Every page has a a brief text, huge illustrations and a scale diagram. Are you curious about the monsters  in your pillow? It's the house dust mite. They feed on our dead skin cells. Other monsters that feed on humans are bedbugs, the chigger and the eyelash mite. None of these will worry you too much but you probably don't want to be attacked by head lice or a tick. Nor do you want to be infected by a hookworm - they can cause serious health issues. 

The result is every bit the tour of stinging hairs, humongous eyes, and sucking mouthparts that people who cringe at creepy-crawlies may fear but grossout fans will enjoy. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Jenkins and Page keep their audience riveted with shiver- and itch-inducing pages and fascinating trivia: the tardigrade "can live for 30 years without eating or drinking"; the marine scale worm lives near "volcanic vents on the sea floor." Meanwhile, the cut- and torn-paper collage illustrations highlight creatures that, when enlarged to a visible size, are more intriguing than sinister--the wonderful detail simply demands a thorough and close inspection. Shelf Awareness

Book seller blurb: Some of these monsters are so tiny that they were barely recognised, even by scientists, until the invention of the electron microscope. Although they may seem like aliens from another planet, these miniscule creatures live right alongside us. And just about all of them are harmless - and some are even helpful! In his signature cut- and torn-paper style, Steve Jenkins shows readers that - seen up close - these pesky critters are as fantastic looking as any creature on Earth. This Caldecott Honor-winning duo also uses informational graphics and diagrams to demonstrate just how big the critters are, where they live, and how many there might be in your home right this second!

It would be great to ask your students to think about the title of this book. The late Steve Jenkins could have used micro monsters for example. Steve Jenkins died in 2022 - read more here.