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The Whale Child
An inspiring middle-grade chapter book that introduces young readers to the environmental challenges facing the planet through the eyes of Coast Salish characters and authors.
"You have family on land as you do in the sea. . . being a caretaker of the earth begins with taking care of the water that all life depends on."
Shiny is a whale child. One day his mother teaches him about the harm facing the world's oceans because of human carelessness. Shiny agrees to be turned into a boy by the ocean's water spirit so he can visit the land and alert people to these dangers. He meets Alex, a young Coast Salish girl who learns from Shiny that the living spirit of water exists in everything--glaciers, rivers, oceans, rain, plants, and all living creatures.
Together the two travel the earth, confronting the realities of a planet threatened by an uncertain future. Inspired by Shiny's hope, humor, and wisdom, Alex makes the promise to become a teacher for future generations. She realizes that the timeless Indigenous value of environmental stewardship is needed now more than ever and that we must all stand up on behalf of Mother Earth.
Written and illustrated by Indigenous authors Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa, The Whale Child introduces children ages 7 to 12 to existing environmental issues with a message of hope, education, sharing, and action. Ideal for middle-grade readers who are beginning to read chapter books on their own, this book also includes resources for students and teachers to facilitate learning about Pacific Northwest Indigenous cultures and the environment.
"You have family on land as you do in the sea. . . being a caretaker of the earth begins with taking care of the water that all life depends on."
Shiny is a whale child. One day his mother teaches him about the harm facing the world's oceans because of human carelessness. Shiny agrees to be turned into a boy by the ocean's water spirit so he can visit the land and alert people to these dangers. He meets Alex, a young Coast Salish girl who learns from Shiny that the living spirit of water exists in everything--glaciers, rivers, oceans, rain, plants, and all living creatures.
Together the two travel the earth, confronting the realities of a planet threatened by an uncertain future. Inspired by Shiny's hope, humor, and wisdom, Alex makes the promise to become a teacher for future generations. She realizes that the timeless Indigenous value of environmental stewardship is needed now more than ever and that we must all stand up on behalf of Mother Earth.
Written and illustrated by Indigenous authors Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa, The Whale Child introduces children ages 7 to 12 to existing environmental issues with a message of hope, education, sharing, and action. Ideal for middle-grade readers who are beginning to read chapter books on their own, this book also includes resources for students and teachers to facilitate learning about Pacific Northwest Indigenous cultures and the environment.
136 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 19, 2020
The Whale Child follows two young children, Shiny and Alex, through a harrowing journey that illuminates the imbalance that has been created between human kind and the natural world and how to remedy it through the relationship and understanding of water.
Beautiful illustrations embolden the imagination with fanciful imagery that carry hope through the sometimes challenging content and capture the visions of the story, moving them beyond words.
Chenoa and Keith Egawa breathe life into a story that teaches the importance of connection to place, respect of nature and the elements, and hope for the future through the mystical journey of a whale child turned human to lead his terrestrial sister to a place of understanding the challenges we face as human beings and the hope and inspiration required to overcome it.
This book is a must read for children and adults alike, emphasizing the magic inherent in the world that is often overlooked and the respect of water through the perspective of traditional cultures. The Whale Child is a guide on seeing and moving through the mounting environmental challenges we face culturally. It is a gesture of hope for the next generation that deserves to meet minds, hearts and spirits far and wide.
Beautiful illustrations embolden the imagination with fanciful imagery that carry hope through the sometimes challenging content and capture the visions of the story, moving them beyond words.
Chenoa and Keith Egawa breathe life into a story that teaches the importance of connection to place, respect of nature and the elements, and hope for the future through the mystical journey of a whale child turned human to lead his terrestrial sister to a place of understanding the challenges we face as human beings and the hope and inspiration required to overcome it.
This book is a must read for children and adults alike, emphasizing the magic inherent in the world that is often overlooked and the respect of water through the perspective of traditional cultures. The Whale Child is a guide on seeing and moving through the mounting environmental challenges we face culturally. It is a gesture of hope for the next generation that deserves to meet minds, hearts and spirits far and wide.
October 7, 2020
See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...
THE WHALE CHILD is a story of environmentalism and the importance of conservation. Shiny is a young whale who has been taught by his mother about the ocean, the creatures in it, and the careful balance everything has in the world. One night, they share a dream that Shiny will become a human boy and must teach his human sister about the world around them.
After Shiny becomes human, he meets Alex and her mother, and he must teach Alex about the balance of the world and the ways in which humans are changing it with potentially dangerous consequences. They discuss pollution, extinction, and the human influences on these with a hopeful and positive view of the way humans still have a chance to stop these negative changes. As they travel and readers see Alex's questions, it teaches the reader in simple terms about what is happening in the world around them and why it matters.
What I loved: This book distills these topics into relatively simple terms to explain the need to help the planet and animals around us - even those that seem scary like mountain lions. The book is full of beautiful colored illustrations that really bring these themes to life for middle grade readers. I would recommend for younger middle grade readers, as the length of text and large illustrations are perfect for this age group. This would be a great book to explore in an educational setting with a fictional story with truths about the world around.
Final verdict: Overall, this is an interesting middle grade fantasy that explains environmentalism and the need to make changes to save the world around us. The lovely illustrations add to the appeal of this read that would be great to explore in the classroom or at home.
Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
THE WHALE CHILD is a story of environmentalism and the importance of conservation. Shiny is a young whale who has been taught by his mother about the ocean, the creatures in it, and the careful balance everything has in the world. One night, they share a dream that Shiny will become a human boy and must teach his human sister about the world around them.
After Shiny becomes human, he meets Alex and her mother, and he must teach Alex about the balance of the world and the ways in which humans are changing it with potentially dangerous consequences. They discuss pollution, extinction, and the human influences on these with a hopeful and positive view of the way humans still have a chance to stop these negative changes. As they travel and readers see Alex's questions, it teaches the reader in simple terms about what is happening in the world around them and why it matters.
What I loved: This book distills these topics into relatively simple terms to explain the need to help the planet and animals around us - even those that seem scary like mountain lions. The book is full of beautiful colored illustrations that really bring these themes to life for middle grade readers. I would recommend for younger middle grade readers, as the length of text and large illustrations are perfect for this age group. This would be a great book to explore in an educational setting with a fictional story with truths about the world around.
Final verdict: Overall, this is an interesting middle grade fantasy that explains environmentalism and the need to make changes to save the world around us. The lovely illustrations add to the appeal of this read that would be great to explore in the classroom or at home.
Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
October 21, 2020
I read this story out loud to my 6 and 10 year old kids and they loved it, relating it to their own lives and relationships while following Alex and Shiny's journey each step of the way. They have been learning alot about the ocean lately and this story helped them to understand better understand the relationship between the land and the sea and to understand the part that they are playing in the natural world.
This is a deeply needed kind of storytelling. It tells our kids the truth about the interconnectedness of our world and the water that we depend upon, without talking down to them. And the Egawas tell the story with their own unique voice--one that honors traditional storytelling while cultivating our hope and our courage.
I am also going to send this along to my older kid's 5th grade teacher. Because my kids are doing school inside my house(!) I can hear the way the interdisciplinary way that the teachers are approaching curriculum--this book would be super applicable to multidisciplinary lessons around oceans and Coast Salish people, including a helpful glossary and grade specific applications to the Common Core--it's a pretty complete resource for teachers and for parents.
Awesome book!
This is a deeply needed kind of storytelling. It tells our kids the truth about the interconnectedness of our world and the water that we depend upon, without talking down to them. And the Egawas tell the story with their own unique voice--one that honors traditional storytelling while cultivating our hope and our courage.
I am also going to send this along to my older kid's 5th grade teacher. Because my kids are doing school inside my house(!) I can hear the way the interdisciplinary way that the teachers are approaching curriculum--this book would be super applicable to multidisciplinary lessons around oceans and Coast Salish people, including a helpful glossary and grade specific applications to the Common Core--it's a pretty complete resource for teachers and for parents.
Awesome book!
October 13, 2020
These pages pack a powerful message with a focus on environmental issues facing the world's oceans and the importance of them to our planet.
Shiny is born as a very intuitive and caring whale, who learns all about life in the ocean and the balance of nature from his mother. His destiny has him then turning into a human, where he becomes the brother of a girl and teaches her about the importance of life in the ocean and exposes the troubles the underwater world faces thanks to pollution and more.
While this book is advertised for middle graders, I see this one for slightly younger readers, ages 6 to 9.
The traditional storytelling of Indigenous lore flows beautifully through these pages. Nature, spirits and life are interlinked in a wondrous way, which opens up a different view to the world around us and the balance between man and nature. In this book, the importance of the ocean and life in it take center stage as the impact modern life has had is discussed. The authors manage to bring all of this across in a way young readers/listeners will be able to understand and open up the door to discussions surrounding water pollution and such.
Bright illustrations accompany the text, allowing listeners to sink into the described scenes visually and gain a better understanding of what is being described. This is a great book for groups to open up environmental topics, especially those relating to seas and oceans. The text is rather heavy four younger listeners, but on the other hand, a bit light and short for older ones. So, I'm placing this one somewhere in the middle and see it as a good read-aloud.
The relationship between Shiny and 'his sister' is one readers will be able to connect with...and it introduces them to the thoughts of this type of storytelling and beliefs as well. Of course, this one is very message driven, and that's what makes it great for classrooms and homeschoolers as well.
I received an ARC and enjoyed the tale.
Shiny is born as a very intuitive and caring whale, who learns all about life in the ocean and the balance of nature from his mother. His destiny has him then turning into a human, where he becomes the brother of a girl and teaches her about the importance of life in the ocean and exposes the troubles the underwater world faces thanks to pollution and more.
While this book is advertised for middle graders, I see this one for slightly younger readers, ages 6 to 9.
The traditional storytelling of Indigenous lore flows beautifully through these pages. Nature, spirits and life are interlinked in a wondrous way, which opens up a different view to the world around us and the balance between man and nature. In this book, the importance of the ocean and life in it take center stage as the impact modern life has had is discussed. The authors manage to bring all of this across in a way young readers/listeners will be able to understand and open up the door to discussions surrounding water pollution and such.
Bright illustrations accompany the text, allowing listeners to sink into the described scenes visually and gain a better understanding of what is being described. This is a great book for groups to open up environmental topics, especially those relating to seas and oceans. The text is rather heavy four younger listeners, but on the other hand, a bit light and short for older ones. So, I'm placing this one somewhere in the middle and see it as a good read-aloud.
The relationship between Shiny and 'his sister' is one readers will be able to connect with...and it introduces them to the thoughts of this type of storytelling and beliefs as well. Of course, this one is very message driven, and that's what makes it great for classrooms and homeschoolers as well.
I received an ARC and enjoyed the tale.
November 2, 2022
More like 3.5. Great read for kiddos interested in water conservation and repairing the relationship with our water sources.
December 17, 2024
Very Brother Bear ish, but with whales and pollution. Another story I had to read for PD 🤷🏼♀️
October 16, 2020
Once in a great while, you find something so magical and intelligent that it takes you to another world. The Whale Child does just this thing. The combination of the beautiful paintings, captivating story, and history of people, place, and lore woven throughout this enchanting little book filled my heart. I want to give everyone a copy for Christmas!
June 11, 2021
I've seen this popping up on lists marked as being locally-relevant, so I read it to see if I needed to order a copy for our local history collection.
The book's location is vague, and the human child's tribal origin is not specific. The storyline is general environmental and not specifically relevant to a locally-focused collection.
About a quarter of the book is resources, glossary, teacher notes, and the like. This may be of most use in a classroom as part of an environmental unit. Unfortunately, the writing is extremely clunky; I don't see this really getting much traction and shared peer-to-peer as a result. The content is shared exclusively through telling (not showing) as the whale child narrates the world to the human child. Their dialogue is awkward.
The illustrations are really beautiful, but they often don't match the story-- for example, the whale child has been turned into a boy, and the story describes him swimming to shore and experiencing having legs, but the illustration shows him with a tail like a mermaid.
The book's important message will be most accessible to young readers who can work through the content with an adult.
The book's location is vague, and the human child's tribal origin is not specific. The storyline is general environmental and not specifically relevant to a locally-focused collection.
About a quarter of the book is resources, glossary, teacher notes, and the like. This may be of most use in a classroom as part of an environmental unit. Unfortunately, the writing is extremely clunky; I don't see this really getting much traction and shared peer-to-peer as a result. The content is shared exclusively through telling (not showing) as the whale child narrates the world to the human child. Their dialogue is awkward.
The illustrations are really beautiful, but they often don't match the story-- for example, the whale child has been turned into a boy, and the story describes him swimming to shore and experiencing having legs, but the illustration shows him with a tail like a mermaid.
The book's important message will be most accessible to young readers who can work through the content with an adult.
August 30, 2020
The Whale Child is a powerful, beautifully written story that challenges you to examine your community and the impact that you are having on the environment and our oceans with a message that touches both adults and children.
Shiny is born a very special whale, full of kindness, curiosity and an understanding of the world around him. His Mother teaches him not only how to survive but also the importance of the ocean, and how water is the source of life. He is chosen for a very special mission – to turn into a human boy and remind the humans of the impact they are having on the oceans and the consequences this can bring.
Alex is a bright young girl from the Coast Salish people who are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest Coast. Shiny is her brother from the water and he will guide and teach her to remember all of the things that they may have been forgotten.
Shiny and Alex set off on a special journey to see the impact that humans have had on Alex’s home. We see the impact that plastic, pollution, over harvesting has had on Alex’s home and the bigger picture that this has on our earth. The experience is difficult for Alex (and readers!) but so important, and like Shiny tells us, we need to see the bad in order to see all of the good that we can do. Their journey together is short but makes a great impact on young Alex. She is determined to be a champion of the water and share the knowledge that she was shown.
The Whale Child is beautifully written and powerful, I enjoyed reading the book with my son. The story gives you a greater understanding of the world around us, the importance of our oceans and our place in protecting the waters. The book contains beautiful illustrations at key points during the story that help readers understand the messaging of the story. I loved that the authors included at the end of the story the following resources: glossary, student resources (which included information on the indigenous tribes in this region as well as projects that students can complete to enhance their learning) and classroom discussions. The Whale Child is a powerful, beautiful story that all young children (and adults too) should be encouraged to read and discuss both in the classroom and at home. Our youth play an important role in protecting the environment, and this should be encouraged. A definite must read story for youth and adults.
Shiny is born a very special whale, full of kindness, curiosity and an understanding of the world around him. His Mother teaches him not only how to survive but also the importance of the ocean, and how water is the source of life. He is chosen for a very special mission – to turn into a human boy and remind the humans of the impact they are having on the oceans and the consequences this can bring.
Alex is a bright young girl from the Coast Salish people who are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest Coast. Shiny is her brother from the water and he will guide and teach her to remember all of the things that they may have been forgotten.
Shiny and Alex set off on a special journey to see the impact that humans have had on Alex’s home. We see the impact that plastic, pollution, over harvesting has had on Alex’s home and the bigger picture that this has on our earth. The experience is difficult for Alex (and readers!) but so important, and like Shiny tells us, we need to see the bad in order to see all of the good that we can do. Their journey together is short but makes a great impact on young Alex. She is determined to be a champion of the water and share the knowledge that she was shown.
The Whale Child is beautifully written and powerful, I enjoyed reading the book with my son. The story gives you a greater understanding of the world around us, the importance of our oceans and our place in protecting the waters. The book contains beautiful illustrations at key points during the story that help readers understand the messaging of the story. I loved that the authors included at the end of the story the following resources: glossary, student resources (which included information on the indigenous tribes in this region as well as projects that students can complete to enhance their learning) and classroom discussions. The Whale Child is a powerful, beautiful story that all young children (and adults too) should be encouraged to read and discuss both in the classroom and at home. Our youth play an important role in protecting the environment, and this should be encouraged. A definite must read story for youth and adults.
April 28, 2021
If you are looking for a teaching text to start a conversation with kids about water conservation, ecological/climate concerns, or Coast Salish indigenous beliefs, pick this one up. The authors do a great job making understanding the natural world relatable for kids, and empowering kids as advocates. I appreciate the many strong messages -- not only to understand how all life is related and that we have already lost so much by damaging the planet, but also that each person can make a difference, that young kids can lead changes, and that practicing public speaking is one of the tools that leads to change.
June 6, 2022
I won this book through Goodreads' FirstReads, it is meant to teach the importance of clean water for all living things.
The beginning is set up like a folktale from oral traditions, in this case the Pacific Northwest. There were times it felt a bit preachy, but that could be because I'm already aware of the issue and knew much of what was mentioned already.
The art is beautiful and it definitely aims to empower children to make positive changes in the world. It includes a glossary, information about the tribes mentioned in the book, and discussion questions. It is clearly aimed for use by teachers in a classroom.
The beginning is set up like a folktale from oral traditions, in this case the Pacific Northwest. There were times it felt a bit preachy, but that could be because I'm already aware of the issue and knew much of what was mentioned already.
The art is beautiful and it definitely aims to empower children to make positive changes in the world. It includes a glossary, information about the tribes mentioned in the book, and discussion questions. It is clearly aimed for use by teachers in a classroom.
April 5, 2021
I liked the book The Whale Child by Keith and Chenoa Egawa. The book follows the story of a boy named Shiny (Sunlight That Shines Into The Deep Ocean) who used to be a whale, and a girl Named Alex. Throughout the book the duo learn about the pollution of earth. For example, people dumping waste like trash and excrement through pipes into the ocean. Reading about this made me feel sad yet inspired to make a difference. I would recommend this book to people who want to learn about the pollution of earth and people who want to feel inspired to help the world.
November 24, 2020
This was a nice children's book to introduce the readers to how pollution is prevalent. At the end there are common classroom discussion questions geared towards 3re, 4th and 5th graders. The illustrations are wonderful
August 23, 2022
What a gloriously fantastic book. Alex is given the biggest gift, and by extension, so are we. A wonderful look at care of Earth (or lack thereof). Loved it!! Should be in every classroom. A treasure.
June 19, 2025
A valuable lesson with lovable characters. I would argue that it is best suited to the lower end of the band they suggest- 3rd graders. The writing can be very straight forward and lacks depth for student analysis in the upper elementary grades.
July 12, 2021
Beautiful illustrations, and I appreciated the backmatter, I think teachers will really enjoy that. I did find the writing a little stilted, a little hard to engage with.
November 15, 2021
I chose this book because it delves into the environmental challenges the world faces through the eyes of the Coast Salish People. The authors draw from their Lummi and S'Klallam heritage.
February 9, 2023
Wonderfully written! A must read for all our children of this amazing & suffering natural world.
December 20, 2023
The environmental message is good and the back matter about Pacific Northwest tribes was interesting and well-done, but the text was a bit stilted and heavy-handed.
December 16, 2024
just reading kids books to reach my goal
July 12, 2023
This is a wonderful tale from an indigenous author and illustrator couple about the importance of caring for our planet. I loved the message that learning about climate change and pollution can be a sad and scary topic but that this doesn’t mean we should not listen. Even as an adult, it can be tempting to bury your head in the sand, but this is the “easy” way out. Instilling this in ourselves and our children while also validating real fears is a great way to start a discussion around this heavy topic and lay a foundation for commitment to caring for our planet in both small and big actions.
January 1, 2023
This book wasn't bad, it just was a lot to read. It felt like something I would read with kiddos while doing a unit in school. And actually, at the back there are ways to integrate it into the classroom. I guess I expected something different than being focused on the environment. It felt a bit generic rather than specific to the PNW which is what the synopsis I saw was coined on.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews