Narwhal: The Arctic Unicorn

Anderson traces the migratory path of a narwhal pod over a year in the Arctic in this fact-filled story. As winter ends, an “old narwhal” guides a pod on a dangerous monthslong journey north, following a maze of ice breaks to the high Arctic islands where the group summers before they head south in autumn. En route, “their long tusks spearing the waves,” the males spar, a calf is born, polar bears and killer whales threaten, and the narwhals perform species-specific behaviors such as echolocation. Material in a smaller font accompanies with genuinely interesting scientific facts (“When echolocating, a narwhal can click more than a thousand times per second”). Moody charcoal artwork, colored digitally in murky shades, lends a timeless aspect to ocean scenes of the subject. A brief note and index conclude. Ages 5–7. (Aug.)