How Whales Walked into the Sea (Hardcover)

by Faith McNulty (Author), Ted Lewin (Illustrator), Ted Rand (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The team behind the intimate view of A Snake in the House takes a more objective, long-range look at whales in this clear account of the mammals' complex evolution. Beginning 50 million years ago, when the antecedent "whales" were furry, four-legged land animals wading shallow waters to forage for fish, McNulty touches on evolutionary milestones leading up to the exclusively water creatures we know as whales today. The feet of land-roaming mesonychids become broader, paddlelike; ambulocetus, the "Walking Whale," comes ashore only to rest and give birth; rodhocetus, the "Hardly Walking Whale," takes on a tapered silhouette with a fin-like tail. Despite a few anomalies (e.g., How did the nostrils become a blowhole on top of the head?), McNulty effectively demonstrates that modern whales carry recognizable remnants of their ancestors ("Inside whales' flippers are arm, wrist, and finger bones"). Although unambiguous and forthright, the text is dense and perhaps best approached with a clear understanding of evolutionary principles (a time line, for instance, would have been helpful). McNulty's straightforward prose concludes in searching questions: "We know [whales] think and have feelings.... Does the whale still have some of the feelings of a land animal...? Does the whale still love the sun?" Rand's arresting and expansive watercolors offer additional, subtle physical changes not mentioned in the text, and his dramatic portraits of orca and sperm whales, especially, will please any fan of these giant mammals. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5?The ancestors of modern whales were definitely land dwellers, with four sturdy legs, a tail, furry coats, and a set of powerful jaws. Through a long process of evolution, their forelegs became flippers, their tails grew muscular flukes, and their hind legs disappeared from view to become vestigial skeletal remnants. Their nostrils moved to the tops of their heads, and their jaws grew different teeth or transformed them into sheets of filtering baleen. But their blood is still warm, they still nurse their young, and those vestigial hind limbs testify to their four-legged forebears. McNulty recounts this aeons-long conversion in a simply worded, informative text, including data on modern cetaceans and their lifestyles as well, and an added page of further details on six whale species. All of this is flawed by a misstatement on the duration of whale dives: some do make shallow, short-term dives, but sperm whales regularly make deep dives lasting an hour or more. Rand's exuberant paintings rendered in acrylics, watercolors, and chalks are a perfect foil for the readable text, presenting accurate images for readers uncertain of the physical appearance of such unwhalelike beginnings as mesonychids and ambulocetus, and who are appreciative of the awe a pair of gigantic flukes can generate.?Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; 1st edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590898302
• ISBN-13: 978-0590898300
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #747,454 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish there was a whole series like this one, August 26, 2001

By	"tmp55" (Sunny California, where the snow never falls) - See all my reviews

This is a simple book which feels more like a storybook than a science book. This suits it very well to the age group it is aiming at. It is a gentle look at evolution, but because it is focused on only one animal, it can give more detail than a general book on evolution of this size. I really wish they had a series of these, each focusing on a different animal. I also liked the artwork and felt it fit well with the tone of the writing. Overall this was a hit in our family, and I often recommend it to others who are looking for evolution books for the preschool set. There are so few books for youngsters about evolution; it is a real shame. Most of us who want to expose our children to this from early on are pretty much stuck using everything that is available, whether it is particularly well done or not. This is a book I would use even if there were an abundance of books to choose from.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Whale Might Walk, But You Should Run to Buy This Book, March 26, 2007

By	Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (New Glarus, WI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have never seen a better book for explaining evolution basics to children. And this is the kind of thing we need to do a lot more of- getting the younger generations into this fascinating science as early as possible, that they might own the wonder and beauty of evolution.

The book is a bit dated, being eight years old now, as we have discovered numerous fossils since the publishing, where in the book it refers to long segments we still don't know. The Mesonychids are portrayed as pawed rather than hoofed in the illustrations. But it doesn't matter- this type of book is so rare, so needed, that even dating doesn't detract from it's groundbreaking presence. And though it comes across as a bit of a "Just So Story", it is an entirely age-appropriate approach. The adult reading this book should simply explain to their children the extra bits that we have learned since it's publication.

The drawings are beautiful enough to entice the pre-reader into wanting to learn more, and hear more. They will be able to see step by step how whales changed. A fourth-grade reader should be able to get through most of this book, and may want to ask their parents for a few of the words they don't understand. But this is also good, for it encourages them to ask more questions about evolution and pursue understanding.

McNulty picked a wonderful example for her book. For a long time, ever since Darwin, evolutionists were made fun of by the Literal Creationists for proposing that whales came from land animals. It seemed like the right idea, but truthfully the evidence was sparse. Yet biologists remained committed to the method, and to expecting the parallels from other organisms to bear out in future fossils. And has happened time after time, when evolution makes predictions, the fossils appear. And today, the Cetacean fossil line is one of the most articulated and defined fossil lines we know of.

Your child will not only learn about evolution, and learn to love it, but he or she will be prepared to know the basics in defending it, considering evolution as simply a second skin, to be cherished as part of themselves.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! A picture book on evolution!, December 30, 2005

By	NK "NK" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

An earlier reviewer was right on target when s/he said "I wish there was a whole series like this one!" This is an extremely difficult subject to find in a format that is accessible to young children. Though we read it to our son when he was 4, some of the text was difficult but at least it was an introduction to a very difficult topic that is so abstract that it's not easily accessible to young children. It continues to be great as a picture book on the topic as children enter early elementary. Most topics can be introduced to even young children, who are naturally fascinated by their world, as long as it is done in a pleasing picture format. But note, the language can still be complex; you may have to edit depending on the child's age and attention span and vocabulary level but it gives you pictures that you can use as a springboard to discuss the fascinating topic of evolution. So there should really be more of these books covering various science topics. As an adult, even I was interested in the ancestors to modern whales. (As an adjunct to the book, there is a computer graphics mini-video at the Smithsonian in Washington DC that animates the evolution of whales from land animals to sea mammals. Seeing the movie first and having this book afterwards was an amazing learning experience.)