by Carl Safina (Author) Carl Safina (Illustrator)
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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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
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