Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall

Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal

Follow a blue whale’s enormous body to the bottom of the ocean, where it sets the stage for a bustling new ecosystem to flourish.

All living things must one day die, and Earth’s largest creature, the majestic blue whale, is no exception. But in nature, death is never a true ending. When this whale closes her eyes for the last time in her 90-year life, a process known as whale fall is just beginning. Her body will float to the surface, then slowly sink through the deep; from inflated behemoth to clean-picked skeleton, it will offer food and shelter at each stage to a vast diversity of organisms, over the course of a century and beyond. 

Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin’s astonishing artwork enriches and amplifies engaging, well-researched text by Bill Nye the Science Guy writer Lynn Brunelle. Young lovers of the macabre will relish each page of Life After Whale. Meanwhile, those grappling with the hard subject of death will take solace in this honest look at the circle of life, which closes on a young whale enjoying the same waves as her ancestor. Additional back pages offer further info and reading recommendations on whales, whale falls, and ecosystems.

An Orbis Pictus Honor Book
Winner of the Bank Street Cook Prize!
One of Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
Winner of the Bank Street Children's Book Committee Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Older Readers
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
A CLA Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts
An Evanston Public Library Blueberry Honor Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year