What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel (Beyond Words)

by Carl Safina (Author) Carl Safina (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: Beyond Words

A middle-grade nonfiction adaptation of Carl Safina's New York Times bestseller Beyond Words, which weaves decades of field observations about elephants and whales into an intimate look at animal behavior and consciousness.

Follow researcher Carl Safina as he treks with a herd of elephants across the Kenyan landscape, then travel with him to the Pacific Northwest to track and monitor whales in their ocean home. Along the way, find out more about the interior lives of these giants of land and sea―how they play, how they fight, and how they communicate with one another, and sometimes with us, too.

Weaving decades of field research with exciting new discoveries about the brain and featuring astonishing photographs taken by the author, Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel gives readers an intimate and extraordinary look at what makes these animals different from us, but more important, what makes us all similar.

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Kirkus

Starred Review
A must for middle-grade animal lovers.

ALA/Booklist

[An] excellent book.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 4-9--In this young readers adaptation of the author's 2015 book, Safina contemplates the inner life of the largest land mammal, the elephant, and the largest dolphin, the orca. He writes of his travels to Kenya to observe elephants and interview scientists and conservationists who study them and attempt to protect them. After an interlude connecting the two species, he relates his travels to the Pacific Northwest, where he spent time with Ken Balcomb, who for 40 years has studied orcas. In beautiful, accessible, often heartbreakingly poignant prose, the author explains how many have proven, anecdotally and scientifically, that animals exhibit complex emotions and thought processes. Both elephants and orcas have strong and complicated family bonds and experience joy and grief. Safina also hammers home the real threat that the animals, especially elephants, face--poachers and habitat loss for elephants and food source loss for orcas. This well-researched volume contains many black-and-white photos, 10 pages of source notes, and a thorough bibliography. VERDICT This excellent, documentary-style account will captivate budding animal behavioral scientists.--Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781250763525
Lexile Measure
900
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Publication date
April 20, 2021
Series
Beyond Words
BISAC categories
JNF051150 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Zoology
JNF003220 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Animal Welfare
JNF003150 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Marine Life
JNF003070 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Elephants
Library of Congress categories
Animals
Elephants
Animal behavior
Whales
Habits and behavior
Psychology
Animal psychology

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