Customer Reviews

Journey of a Humpback Whale (Dorling Kindersley Readers, Level 2: Beginning to Read Alone)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book so, so much because it has a map. I learned that he swims from the warm water to the cold water. There's not much food in the warm water but there's lots of food in the cold water. I learned that a whale's tail goes up and down but a fish's tail goes side to side.

You should read this book because it's awesome and has a map.

Travis, age 5

So I ordered this book of of the strength of some other DK books that I have purchased for my son. All of the other books I looked at in a bookstore first - this time I did not. So imagine my surprise to find a picture of a dead dolphin floating upside down in a drift net.

For me that is not an appropriate image for a child to see. I can understand if they want to bring up the topic, and the other picture of a whale with a drift net where the words say that he breaks free is fine. But a picture of a dead dolphin - the book went staight back to Amazon.

Journey of a Humpback Whale, by Caryn Jenner, is a whale of a book (pun intended!). As kids' books go, this brief, 32 page book (booklet?) is packed full of age appropriate information and factoids about (primarily) humpback whales. It is a DK Readers "2" book (recommended for those beginning to read alone; longer sentences and increased vocabulary over level 1; information boxes with additional facts; and an index). The font size is about 24!

There are three humpbacks featured: Triton, Spoon, and Salt. Triton is a male, and is the featured whale. The names are perhaps the corniest parts of the story, but they don't destroy the discussion of humpback natural history and biology.

You'll learn (however briefly) about the unique markings on a whale's fluke, how and when they breath, songs, migration, swimming behavior, food habits and feeding ecology, the role of blubber, and the impact of civilization on whales (whaling, pollution, entanglement, and ecotourism).

It's a good book for early readers.

Great photos, as you should expect from all DK books. To help "save the whales", the author suggests Greenpeace and Cetacean Society International.