Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals. Until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite me. Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too... (more)

Moby-Dick

by Herman Melville

Written with wonderfully redemptive humor, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. Introduction by Andrew Delbanco Explanatory Commentary by Tom Quirk

The Whale Rider

by Witi Tame Ihimaera

Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny. Her people claim descent from Kahutia Te Rangi, the legendary "whale rider." In every generation since Kahutia, a male heir has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir, and the aging chief is desperate to find a successor. Kahu is his only great-grandchild--and... (more)

Grayson

by Lynne Cox

Grayson is Lynne Cox’s first book since Swimming to Antarctica (“Riveting”— Sports Illustrated ; “Pitch-perfect”— Outside ). In it she tells the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was seventeen and in training for a big swim (she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina Channel). It was the dark of early morning; Lynne was in 55-degree water as smooth as... (more)

Whale Song

by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

In Cheryl Kaye Tardif's heart-wrenching Whale Song, haunting native legends merge with the modern world as two cultures collide, and a young woman struggles with long-forgotten memories of her mother's suicide. Thirteen years ago, Sarah Richardson's life was shattered when her mother committed suicide. The shocking tragedy left a grief-stricken teen-aged Sarah with partial amnesia. Some things... (more)

Isabel of the Whales

by Hester Velmans

Eleven-year-old Isabel is a “plain old” girl living in Provincetown, Massachusetts, who believes that she is destined to accomplish something special. When her fifth-grade class goes on a whale-watch field trip, something amazing happens: Dozens of different species of whales surround the boat, bumping the deck and sending Isabel flying into the ocean. Isabel is shocked to hear the whales speaking to her—she is a... (more)

A Whale For The Killing

by Farley Mowat

A PLEA TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER NOW... When an 80-ton Fin Whale became trapped in a Newfoundland lagoon, conservationist Farley Mowat rejoiced: here was the first chance to study at close range one of the most magnificent animals in creation. Some local villagers thought otherwise. They blasted the whale with rifle fire and hacked open her back with a motorboat propeller. Mowat appealed desperately to the police, to... (more)

Young Wizards: Book 2

Deep Wizardry

by Diane Duane

Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a . . . books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist . . . a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard. I don't belive this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in her... (more)

Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales)

Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales)

by M. T. Anderson

What sort of madman would unleash an army of stilt-walking, laser-beaming, thoroughly angry whales upon the world? Who cares! All that matters is that his dastardly plan be foiled. Lucky for Lily Gefelty, her two best friends are the intrepid stars of their own middle-grade series novels: Jasper Dash (better know as the Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan (beloved by millions as the heroine of the Horror Hollow... (more)

I Can Read About Whales and Dolphins (I Can Read About)J. I. Anderson

I Can Read About Whales and Dolphins (I Can Read About)

by J. I. Anderson

Pacific Coast (Audubon Society Nature Guides)

Pacific Coast (Audubon Society Nature Guides)

by Bayard Harlow McConnaughey

A comprehensive field guide, fully illustrated with color photographs, to the birds, plants, fishes, insects, seashore creatures, and other natural wonders of North America's western shores, from Alaska to southern California.

Sightings : The Gray Whales' Mysterious Journey (Adventure Press)

Sightings : The Gray Whales' Mysterious Journey (Adventure Press)

by Linda Hogan, Brenda Peterson

For 50 million years, the gray whale has evolved along human shores, linking its history with human existence. Ancient and colossal, the gray whale weighs 45 tons and swims 10,000 miles along the West Coast each year from its Alaskan summer feeding grounds to winter birthing lagoons in Baja, Mexico. Proximity and beauty have made the gray whale a mysterious creature in the eyes of humans, sparking scientific... (more)

The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals

The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals

by Peter Heller

In the tradition of The Perfect Storm, The Whale Warriors takes us on a hair-raising journey aboard a whale-saving pirate ship with a vigilante crew whose mission is to stop illegal Japanese whaling in the stormy remote seas off Antarctica.

Whales on Stilts!: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales (M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales)

Whales on Stilts!: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales (M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales)

by M. T. Anderson

What sort of madman would unleash an army of stilt-walking, laser-beaming, thoroughly angry whales upon the world? Who cares! All that matters is that his dastardly plan be foiled. Lucky for Lily Gefelty, her two best friends are the intrepid stars of their own middle-grade series novels: Jasper Dash (better know as the Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan (beloved by millions as the heroine of the Horror Hollow... (more)

Oprah's Book Club

She's Come Undone

by Wally Lamb

In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and... (more)

A Whale Hunt

by Robert Sullivan

A gloriously idiosyncratic fusion of travelogue, ecology, history, moral controversy, and high-seas adventure from the acclaimed author of The Meadowlands. In the fall of 1997, Robert Sullivan arrived in Neah Bay, a tiny town on the most northwestern tip of America, home to the Makah, a Native American tribe. For centuries the hunting of the whale was what defined the tribe, but when commercial whaling drove... (more)

Whales

by Seymour Simon

Exceptional nonfiction for children from two of the most trusted names in science education: Seymour Simon and the Smithsonian Institution.

Whales Passing

by Eve Bunting

A young boy stands on the beach with his father. As they watch the surf, a pod of Orca whales swim by. After wondering aloud whether the whales can talk like he does, the boy then imagines the whales' conversations, and whether they are talking about him under the bubbling waves, just as he talks about them on the land."I bet those whales have signposts down below. An ocean mountain or a sunken ship. Maybe... (more)

Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises

by Mark Carwardine

Annotated illustrations, descriptions, identification checklist, behavior, and sighting tips,

When I Look at Me: What Do I See?

by Karen Farmer

What does a child really see when they look at themselves in a mirror? Do they see a smile as big as can be? What color are their eyes? Can they crinkle and wiggle their nose? There is nothing as funny to a child as when they look at themselves in the mirror. Full of clever rhyme and colorfully animated characters, When I Look At Me is sure to keep your child entertained for hours as they make their own funny... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: whales

Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

by Christopher Moore

by Herman Melville

by Witi Tame Ihimaera

by Lynne Cox

by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

by Hester Velmans

by Farley Mowat

by Diane Duane

by M. T. Anderson

by J. I. Anderson

by Bayard Harlow McConnaughey

by Linda Hogan, Brenda Peterson

by Peter Heller

by M. T. Anderson

by Wally Lamb

by Robert Sullivan

by Seymour Simon

by Eve Bunting

by Mark Carwardine

by Karen Farmer