IN THE WORLD OF WHALES

It’s the whales’ world, but sometimes lucky humans can visit.

Unlike most kids’ nonfiction about cetaceans, this book focuses on just one meaningful episode, an extraordinary encounter between a whale pod and humans. In 2014, freedivers Fred Buyle and Kurt Amsler floated among sperm whales in the Azores and, noticing that a calf had been born mere minutes earlier, photographed and filmed the animals. This splendid work gives readers a front-row seat to that event. Cusolito draws vivid parallels between the whales and the human (just one diver is depicted in this tale): Both diver and calf must kick their way to the surface to breathe, but the newborn cannot yet swim, and “helper females nudge baby upward while mother rests below.” As the whales call to one another, the diver wonders what they’re saying; in a climactic moment, the mother presents her calf to the diver, who “is one with the whales” for a brief time. They separate, and “he rides home in silence, forever changed.” His silence is understandable—who could find words to describe such an experience? Fortunately, Cusolito has. Her concise yet eloquent text immerses young people in the watery setting, letting them feel the whales’ clicks as they “tingle” and “vibrate” and emphasizing the strength of these animals’ social bonds. Lanan’s fluid, pristine artwork echoes the underwater photography, with clear, blue-washed images that suggest both immense grandeur and the shadowy sublime. The diver is light-skinned.

A brief yet powerful moment of intimacy, inspiration, and awe.