What waits in the shadows of a whale fall?
A huge skeleton becomes a haunted house in this spooky description of what happens after a whale dies and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. A pair of colorful fish venture within, encountering a variety of dangerous creatures: hagfish slime, a goblin shark, a vampire squid, a female angler fish dangling her light bait, octopuses, and even zombie worms. But wait, there’s more: “pinching crustaceans” and, finally, creatures such as clams that help finish off the bones entirely. Slate’s eerie exploration covers the same ground as Melissa Stewart’s Whalefall (2023), but with more atmosphere and less depth. James’ digitally created illustrations support the sense of menace. Unusual hues and strange sharp shapes against a black background suggest the darkness and otherworldliness of the ocean’s midnight zone (between 3,000 and 13,000 feet below the surface; once a dead cetacean reaches this level, it’s considered a whale fall). The text operates at two levels. Simply phrased sentences follow the fish through the decaying bones, with language that reads aloud well: “Dart through ribs! Duck beneath the backbones!” Text in a more expository voice adds information about the creatures and the threats they pose to the tiny explorers. This would be an entertaining, enlightening selection for a Halloween storytime; it also nicely rounds out existing collections of whale fall books.
An appropriately spooky dive into a mysterious world. (author’s note, information on the midnight zone and whale falls, resources, bibliography, QR code linking to a website about a whale fall site)
—Kirkus Reviews
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