When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys

by Dougal Dixon, Hannah Bailey (Illustrations)

A 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for K–12 (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council).

From the moment life crawled out of the oceans and onto land, to when our primate ancestors climbed down from the trees, the history of Planet Earth is filled with incredible stories. This beautifully illustrated guide explores some of the most exciting and incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies.

Step back in time and discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and snakes had legs! Meet terrifying giant birds, and tiny elephants living on islands in this fascinating creature guide like no other . Learn how whales once walked on four legs before taking to the oceans; how dinosaurs evolved into birds; and how the first cats were small and lived in trees.

Featuring a stunning mix of annotated illustrations, illustrated scenes, and family trees, evolution is explained here in a captivating and novel style that  will make children look at animals in a whole new way.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Middle Grade

64 pages, Hardcover

Published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Whales Walked And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys
by Dougal Dixon is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This book has so much information and it is arranged so well! Wonderful illustrations with each but of info, each creature/ animal gets a nice art work and it's own bio! Great charts that makes it easy to follow! This is one of the easiest book on adaptation I have seen for kids in a long time. The illustrations are not only abundant but excellent! The information is rich and helpful! I definitely want to get this for my grandkids!

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars A wonderful book full of information and lovely illustrations. So many interesting facts and really nicely set out into interesting pages. This book looks at prehistoric life and how these creatures have evolved into the ones we have around today. Highly recommended for the small natural historian in your life.

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys (a 2018 non-fiction picture book penned by Dougal Dixon, with accompanying artwork by Hannah Bailey and at sixty-three pages of rather dense but generally neither too complicated nor filled with scientific jargon text suitable for readers or listeners from about the age of nine or so onwards) is thematically and content wise delightfully and extensively educational (as well as engagingly rendered, since what Dixon textually provides in When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys is also never didactic or verbally tedious, just good and fun learning), featuring dozens of different animal groups (but no plants and other life forms) and their evolutionary history, from the Cambrian period when the first animals with hard parts that could easily be fossilised appeared in the earth's oceans, onto fish and the evolution of some of those fishes to tetrapods, through to dinosaurs, birds, mammals (including the walking whales of the book title as well as us, as well as humankind), with When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys concluding having the author, having Dougal Dixon show that evolution is not just a thing of the past, that it is still happening and will continue to be happening (and also, sadly speaking, but importantly, that we are at present experiencing a mass extinction event mostly caused by human behaviour and activity, perhaps not something all that comfortable and reassuring for young readers/listeners to encounter within the pages of When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys but nevertheless necessary and essential).

Now since many people (and indeed this also pertains to those of us who consider evolution to be something true and believable) actually seem to have a somewhat lacking understanding of evolution as a general process, I really do personally appreciate that at the beginning of When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys Dixon provides a short and nicely basic definition of evolution and shows that the latter is basically a way to understand how living organisms transform and adapt in changing environments and with differing availabilities of essential resources, with me really and majorly appreciating how Dougal Dixon totally leaves religion out of When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys, that he presents no pro or anti creationist information and simply shows what scientifically and with regard to biology and palaeontology evolution is and represents. And yes, the brief overview Dixon provides in When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys of the timeline of life throughout earth’s history is also nicely basic without over simplification (showing a chart of the geological eras, periods, epochs, and some of the animals that lived during those times, the various landmasses on earth and their locations throughout the past 419 million years, an introduction to cladograms that is probably a bit too simplistic but as such suitable and rather perfect for the intended audience, and indeed, Dougal Dixon equally demonstrating that those animals and animal groups which survive to successfully and lastingly reproduce when conditions on earth and in the atmosphere are changing and altering are for the most part the ones whose genes are them passed on to future generations and which then of course also fuels the process of evolution).

Finally, Hannah Bailey‘s artwork for When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys, it really is totally and absolutely the icing on an already majorly delightful and wonderful reading cake for me, nicely and successfully mirroring in a manner that is realistic but also lush, eye-catching and with a wonderful colour and texture sense but also not visually overwhelming Dougal Dixon's words, and indeed turning When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys into an approachable and aesthetically pleasing reading experience that in my humble opinion most children of the intended age group should enjoy (and in particular if there is already interest in STEM thematics present). And indeed, the ONLY reasons why my rating for When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys is not five but four stars is that for one in the section on humankind, I do think Dougal Dixon should be pointing out that according to the latest genetic evidence and research, most Europeans carry some Neanderthal DNA and that some Asian populations also carry small amounts of Denisovan DNA and for two that the absence in When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys of bibliographical materials, of secondary sources and a list of books and online resources for further study and reading does both frustrate me and also kind of lower the educational value of When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys a bit, with me eally do NOT understanding why Dougal Dixon has not acknowledged his sources and provided lists for further study, since in my opinion a totally and completely non fiction science themed tome like When the Whales Walked: And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys simply and totally screams for this.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

For such a short book (a little over 60 pages), there is a lot of information neatly lettered and beautifully layered across the pages. The illustrations are beyond gorgeous, incredibly detailed, and the overall design works flawlessly: young and adult readers alike will jump back and forth, from one page to another, through the history of life on Earth, careful not to miss any of its twists and turns. Plus, I’m a huge, huge fan of the scheme of colours and tones the artist Hannah Bailey chose to illustrate this journey.

From a proper timeline of life on Earth to answering more scientific questions, such as “Where do fossils come from?” “What made pterodactyloid such successful fliers?” or childish ones, like “What happened to the legs?” “Why did giant, flightless birds evolve?” or even tricky, but just as important questions: “When is a cat not a cat?”; we’re getting closer to figuring out the equally tricky title of the book. It goes, of course, back 50MYA (there’s a question for this one, too), when whales did not look like the whales we know today.

The part illustrating the evolution of the whales is, perhaps, the most stunning: the “ancient whales” seem to be swimming across the pages, while the captions describe their transformations spanning millions of years.

When the Whales Walked, And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys is a beautiful book and one whose intricate details you slowly uncover: it took me a second time reading through it to notice some of the playful things Hannah Bailey had thrown in (Yes! I’m including here the touristy humans!)

It was an equally unexpected surprise for me, as this is the first time since starting to request and review books on here, a couple of months ago, that a publisher has granted me a wish!

*Thanks to NetGalley & QEB Publishing for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. When the Whales Walked RELEASED OCT 16, 2018.*

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Whales Walked was a really wonderful guide to how evolution works - I loved all the examples and illustrations. It was well written and fun, and I think it could be interesting and educational to a reader of any age.

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5. Well vulgarized and illustrated book about evolution (not really focus on whale like the title makes us think but anyway). It also present a lot of prehistoric creature. A good introduction to the subject for young reader, around 8-9 years old maybe!

[Deke Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of information in manageable bite sized pics, with excellent art, this book makes evolutionary theory accessible to young readers.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Whales Walked gives you a glimpse of life on our planet hundreds of millions of years ago. This book was informative, well written and beautifully illustrated. I was sharing facts with my husband as I was reading through the book. It discusses not just what animals were like at one time, but explains how the animals evolved through the years.
Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for this e-copy. My opinions are my own.
www.colecampfireblog.com
LanaLCole@yahoo.com

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to start with when reading the title and it got even better once the cover was opened. At the same time it also turned out to be not quite what I expected.

This book had a nice educational opening that gave the reader an introduction to evolution, the varied timeline of earth, the changes of the planet itself and the evolutionary tree. For those who want to have a less informative and/or lengthy read this could more or less be skipped over but I would at least suggest checking it out before you do.

From there the book broke down for the reader a geologic time frame by giving it to the reader as so many millions of years ago. This small paragraph introduces the reader to what type of change showed up and its importance to life as we know it.

Then the rest of the two-page spread is given to extra paragraphs going into further depth of a chosen subject and sample creatures from that timeframe. The latter includes the name of the animal and its pronunciation as well as how long ago it lived, size and why the creature is important to evolution as we know it.

The information provided is very well given in simple to understand words that aren't too heavily scientific sounding. And even with a pronunciation guide some younger readers may find that adult assistance may be needed in some of their reading.

Another thing that I found enjoyable was the illustrations. Although we may not have a clue what these animals look like the illustrator did an amazingly good job in depicting these creatures in nicely bright colored ways while at the same time keeping their colored scheme rather believable.

As the sample creatures are very few this isn't going to be a complete history for those who are interested in the subject. At the same time dinosaurs are also very little touched upon so again for those fans this may be a hit-or-miss. Instead this would make for a nice book to have around for those who are seeking to explain evolution to a younger audience and how animals from the present or future can be inspired from those of the past.

***I received a free copy to read of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

[Goatllama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dixon composes an examination of evolution, first laying the foundation of its basic concepts and then portraying a detailed description of the minuscule changes that happened over many millions of years for all manner of organisms. If the intriguing title isn't enough to entice readers, the attractive, detailed art should capture kids' eyes.

However, after initial impressions pass it may be a bit more difficult to progress. The information is solid and the illustrations are nicely detailed, but at times the language and descriptions are a bit dry. The pronunciation guides are a welcome addition, but are typically present only in the profile boxes for the various creatures—occasionally there are words within the body paragraphs that could've used the same treatment. The author's passion for the subject manifests in occasional bursts of excitement, typically with fun comparisons to modern-day examples.

Overall, a solid addition to any collection and a great primer for evolution, even if it drags a little bit at times.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name of the book makes it sound like it is for a much younger bracket and that it is going to be mostly pictures and short bits.

It is mostly pictures and short bits about each animal, but it is not light, or flippant, and the actual walking whales don't come in until much later in the book.

Even though many of these animals died before humans appeared on the scene, there are some "scale" photos to show how large these animals were in comparison to humans. I feel this might be confusing to younger readers. (And because, in some cases the animals did not die off until the humans came along, so it makes sense to have a human in the picture).





So, four stars, but with a large grain of salt for a cool name for a book about evolution, that can be slightly misleading.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book for young kids about the evolution of life on earth. An excellent follow-up for kids who loved Grandmother Fish when they were younger. I learned a lot from this book, too!

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great science book explaining evolution in easy to understand terms for kids. Great little science book, with really cool art.

[Renee Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, another nonfiction book I wish I had for my own kids!

[Alastair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book about evolution. There is A LOT of content, so better for older children and adults, but overall a very informative book, certainly better than some other books about evolution.
The second book of the series also a worthy companion to this one

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous picture book explaining some evolutionary paths, aimed at children but honestly as an adult I got a lot out of it. The watercolour illustrations are fantastic. Each spread describes an evolutionary journey that happened, such as legged snakes losing their legs, with instances of snakes with shorter and shorter snakes from the evolutionary record. Lovely book.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Evolution – it's incredible" shouts the back cover of this book. Well, it's also anathema to some idiots, so this is very useful. Highly pictorial, it's actually stuffed with information concerning prehistoric animals. It covers several stories that all build to the conclusion that is the evolution of mankind, but before then we get the invention of crocodiles, the creation of elephants, and how things such as baleen whales and flight were evolved*. It scientifically and measuredly presents the evidence from the fossil remains, not hiding the missing links and what great swathes of our prehistorical nature we don't know, but still proving how everything we can see today links back down the evolutionary tree to something else that came beforehand. As a result you get quite the same content as standard dinosaur books, but a calmer sense – gone is 'what ate what and how' but 'what begat what and why', a greater sense of the timescale these things happened on, and a lot more that makes this really quite a unique read. A couple of niggly typos hit my e-arc, and the sweeping statement that swimming creatures didn't need necks was undone within pages, but this is all the same a very good read. Heartily recommended for school libraries.

* Not in the same creature, mind.

[The Silvan Reverie | Sarah Street · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully detailed book about evolution for kids, with engaging illustrations and fun facts sprinkled throughout the pages.

The introduction pages are fantastic and do a great job setting the stage and explaining evolution in an age appropriate way. The first pages are titled "What is Evolution?" and there are excellent graphics of a timeline of life on earth as well as maps showing the changing Earth. The progression of narrative in this book is a huge selling point; information is well-organized and easy to follow. Illustrations are fun and interesting; individual species are given little highlight sections throughout the book. After covering evolution as a whole, a special focus is given to whales (hence, the title), but it's important to note that not *only* whales are covered in detail. Elephants, wild cats, primates, and then humans are given a special focus as well.

Again, one of my favorite things about this book is the logical progression and presentation of information. It's interesting and one kids will pick up more than once.

[Corina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 5 and 7 year old sat through this book and were actually interested, so that’s a win. I would have appreciated something that taught about the evolutionary process through more detailed examples rather than this book, which takes a broad approach, covering many different species. Some pages were quite monotonous with a string of very similar animals with no obvious reason as to why these animals were chosen as examples. Not the best introductory book on evolution, but worth checking out.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the cover, which intrigued me enough to request this, as did the subject matter. I loved Hannah Bailey's illustrations, and found them a lot more engaging than the text in the book. Regardless, it is both well set out and informative, and I imagine I would have loved this as a child.

[Tara Thieleke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely fascinating. It’s filled with stories of our latest theories on the evolution of many species. Many evolutionary stories take twists and turns I never would have expected. The illustrations are beautiful and educational. I reread many parts of this book and could again. Highly recommend!

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and enjoyable overview of evolution and how certain animals evolved. The illustrations are gorgeous and bring the animals to life. I would have loved to have had this book as a kid and will definitely be passing it on to any future children in the family.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colourful and informative pages which provide a wealth of information on evolution as well as beautiful illustrations to soak up. At around 60 pages it is a canter through the evolution process but an enjoyable one and will appeal to all ages.

Note - I obtained a copy from Netgalley for review.

[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid nonfic for younger readers about evolution. Beautifully illustrated and contains a lot of information.

However, I do think it's a bit of a missed opportunity they don't really talk about the evolution of dinosaurs (aside from birds) and marsupials.

[Rebecca R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow in Armadillo's Winter Edition.

[Eabhnat Ní Laighin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous & fascinating

[Paige Tynan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really informative even for adults! I have learnt a lot about evolution from this book. I am also a huge fan of the colours and art work which is why I picked up the book in the first place!

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at the evolution of life on land, sea, and air. Very browsable, great illustrations, easy pronunciation guides. Dinosaur fans will love it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and informative.

[Maggie Panning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book in our prehistory unit study. Interesting and easy to follow and beautifully put together.