written by Candace Fleming
illustrated by Diana So'Oteh

About the book

You are a narwhal.
Shy… Swift… Small…
Humans call you unicorn of the Arctic.

When winter ice covers the Arctic Ocean, a narwhal pokes his head through a patch of open water, his tusk—a six-foot long tooth—pointed to the sky.

Join this mammal as he jousts with another narwhal, floats with his pod, and uses echolocation to find his prey. When warmer weather arrives, he will migrate towards summer ground. But he must be careful! Predators—orcas and polar bears—will be hungry and looking for a meal…. How will the narwhal escape? Will he be able to return to the winter bay?

Paired with atmospheric illustrations by debut illustrator Deena So'Oteh, nonfiction master Candace Fleming delivers a picture book, uniquely told in second person, that expertly explores the mysterious and fascinating unicorn of the Arctic.

Read the reviews

“You are a narwhal,” Fleming writes, “shy, / swift, / small (for a whale).” With one giant tooth that is “taller than a man,” not to mention “green with algae,” “alive with sea lice,” and still, researchers say, of uncertain function, the sleek, mottled form in So’Oteh’s glowing, light-drenched marine settings floats sociably with other members of its pod. “Side by side by side,” the whales peek out through a gap in the ice until hunger leads to a rolling dive into darker regions for food. Lengthening days signal that it’s time to move to summer waters, avoiding predatory orcas; at summer’s end, the annual migration continues, despite the spread of ice across the water and roving polar bears that make access to the air hazardous. Simultaneously immersive, lyrical, and informative, Fleming’s text shines, accompanied by So’Oteh’s luminous art. Narwhals may not (yet) be endangered, the author concludes, even if their Arctic habitat is definitely threatened by climate change. The species may be of “least concern” to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but in the wake of this sympathetic portrait and its substantially factual afterword, readers will find these real-life unicorns of “most interest.” Rich in facts and feelings, a warm invitation to join the pod of sea mammal lovers. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9) (Kirkus Reviews)

“In prose both graceful and suspenseful, Fleming (Mine!) introduces the “shy,/ swift/ small (for a whale)” narwhal, weaving scientific observation into gripping storytelling. Icy landscapes and naturalistic, watery blue aquatic scenes of whales and other marine life by So’oteh, making her picture book debut, add to the drama. Opening with a description of the mammal’s most distinctive feature—“a single/ twisting/ rod of ivory/ that sprouts from your upper left jaw”—lines describe the way male narwhals use their tusks for combat. Subsequent pages trace the rhythms of narwhal life, first in the winter as they dive for fish and surface to breathe, and next as summer migration to warmer southern seas draws hundreds, somewith newborn calves. Returning north, a sudden freeze threatens the pod, whose members cannot breathe beneath the ice. And when they create a small hole to surface, they’re exposed to predators(“You are discovered!”), a moment captured from the narwhal’s underwater view as a polar bear puts an enormous paw into the breathing hole. Together, art and text make this species biography not merely a lesson but an adventure, too. Ages 4–8.(Oct.) (Publishers Weekly)”