When the Whales Walked

Quando le balene camminavano...

...i serpenti avevano le gambe...

...i coccodrilli dominavano il mondo...

...ai rettili crescevano le ali...

...e il mondo e i suoi abitanti erano così diversi che adesso è impossibile per noi immaginarlo.

A meno di non leggere e studiare libri come questo, che con chiarezza e precisione mostrano le meraviglie della natura, e di come la necessità abbia portato ogni essere vivente a evolversi per adattarsi a un habitat in continuo cambiamento - e spesso non per il meglio.

Ricco, affascinante, preciso: un libro da tener caro, e tradurre - come sono sottile nei miei suggerimenti! XD

Well written and informative book. The illustrations are GREAT! Thank you NetGalley. I think would make a great addition to a school classroom or library. I wish I had owned it when my older two were growing up. Definitely, want to add it to my home library for my younger children and granddaughter.

The name of the book makes it sound like it is for a much younger bracket and that it is going to be mostly pictures and short bits.

It is mostly pictures and short bits about each animal, but it is not light, or flippant, and the actual walking whales don't come in until much later in the book.

Even though many of these animals died before humans appeared on the scene, there are some "scale" photos to show how large these animals were in comparison to humans. I feel this might be confusing to younger readers. (And because, in some cases the animals did not die off until the humans came along, so it makes sense to have a human in the picture).

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-15-at-4.40.47-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4729" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-15-at-4.58.59-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4730" />

So, four stars, but with a large grain of salt for a cool name for a book about evolution, that can be slightly misleading.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

What a beautiful book. I can't wait to have it actually in my hands, because this is a book to pore over, to examine and go back to again and again. The artwork is amazing and the language is pitched just right for younger children. I'll be recommending this to many parents this Christmas.


I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this gorgeously illustrated and at the same time very informative book on evolution! Not only for children but fun for adults too!

"Evolution – it's incredible" shouts the back cover of this book. Well, it's also anathema to some idiots, so this is very useful. Highly pictorial, it's actually stuffed with information concerning prehistoric animals. It covers several stories that all build to the conclusion that is the evolution of mankind, but before then we get the invention of crocodiles, the creation of elephants, and how things such as baleen whales and flight were evolved*. It scientifically and measuredly presents the evidence from the fossil remains, not hiding the missing links and what great swathes of our prehistorical nature we don't know, but still proving how everything we can see today links back down the evolutionary tree to something else that came beforehand. As a result you get quite the same content as standard dinosaur books, but a calmer sense – gone is 'what ate what and how' but 'what begat what and why', a greater sense of the timescale these things happened on, and a lot more that makes this really quite a unique read. A couple of niggly typos hit my e-arc, and the sweeping statement that swimming creatures didn't need necks was undone within pages, but this is all the same a very good read. Heartily recommended for school libraries.

* Not in the same creature, mind.

This book is beautiful and contains a lot of detail. I will be using it in a educational setting. Highly recommend.

When the Whales Walked gives you a glimpse of life on our planet hundreds of millions of years ago. This book was informative, well written and beautifully illustrated. I was sharing facts with my husband as I was reading through the book. It discusses not just what animals were like at one time, but explains how the animals evolved through the years.
Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for this e-copy. My opinions are my own.
www.colecampfireblog.com
LanaLCole@yahoo.com

This is a good general overview of Darwinian Evolutionary Theory and covers a large amount of information in about 60 pages. I think it's a good resource to teach children (and adults!) about evolutionary thought and could be used as a starting point to spark further investigation. Some parts might be a bit over the heads of a younger age but it should still be a good resource for an adult to teach from. Good illustrations and simple and readable explanations. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for ARC.

When the Whales Walked And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys
by Dougal Dixon is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This book has so much information and it is arranged so well! Wonderful illustrations with each but of info, each creature/ animal gets a nice art work and it's own bio! Great charts that makes it easy to follow! This is one of the easiest book on adaptation I have seen for kids in a long time. The illustrations are not only abundant but excellent! The information is rich and helpful! I definitely want to get this for my grandkids!

This is a fabulous book with detailed notes, inspiring drawings and a great voice. A whole range of animal, groups in their evolutionary journey have are presented in an interesting manner. Scientific vocabulary is also broken down and presented to the readers. Highly recommended for Middle school-High school readers.
#WhenTheWhalesWalked #NetGalley

‘A 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: K–12 (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council).

From the moment life crawled out of the oceans and onto land, to when our primate ancestors climbed down from the trees, the history of Planet Earth is filled with incredible stories. This beautifully illustrated guide explores some of the most exciting and incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies.

Step back in time and discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and snakes had legs! Meet terrifying giant birds, and tiny elephants living on islands in this fascinating creature guide like no other. Learn how whales once walked on four legs before taking to the oceans; how dinosaurs evolved into birds; and how the first cats were small and lived in trees.

Featuring a stunning mix of annotated illustrations, illustrated scenes, and family trees, evolution is explained here in a captivating and novel style that will make children look at animals in a whole new way.’

When the Whales Walked was a wonderful read, and a fairly quick one too. It's geared more towards middle-grade kids, who have at least some science knowledge. Many of the lessons in here were new to me. So many animals have gone through such radical changes over the millennia, with several shifting from sea to land to sea again. Or land to sky to land.

Concepts of evolution and extinction were covered, and the several waves of extinction are discussed. It's sad to consider that we are causing the current wave of extinction- the sixth extinction. I think sooner or later, we ourselves are going to succumb. The earth has a way of regulating population that gets out of control, usually with sickness. I read this with my cubs, and we all really enjoyed it! Perfect for dinosaur or nature loving kids.

***Many thanks to Netgalley/ Quarto Publishing for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My school taught a fairly narrow, limited view of evolution. We learned about genetics, natural selection, and scientific classification. But those ideas weren't explicitly connected. We didn't get much on divergent and parallel evolution. So books like this one do a good job of closing the gap. It uses a handful of case studies to teach not only evolutionary concepts but also to show us how scientists come to those conclusions (as well as how they've been misled in the past).

A beautiful book that combines the appeal of a picture book with the education of a non-fiction book. I will definitely be adding this book to our library's collection, and promoting it at class visits.

Colourful and informative pages which provide a wealth of information on evolution as well as beautiful illustrations to soak up. At around 60 pages it is a canter through the evolution process but an enjoyable one and will appeal to all ages.

When the Whales Walked and other incredible evolutionary journeys, by Dougal Dixon and illustrated by Hannah Bailey is an excellent piece of non-fiction for young people across a broad range of ages, whether to be read aloud by a parent with some explanation or read on their own at an older age.

The book begins with a general overview of evolution and natural selection, gives a basic timeline of life on Earth and changing continents, and finally (for this introductory segment) explains evolutionary diagrams (trees and cladograms). This is all done concisely, efficiently, and clearly, the excellently lucid text nicely supplemented and enhanced by the lovely illustrations, which are both aesthetically pleasing and clearly informative. And pretty much the same praise can be levied for both text and illustrations throughout the rest of the book.

That rest moves through time, sometimes dealing in general evolutionary change (such as the rise of hard-shelled creatures during the Cambrian Explosion or the movement by tetrapods from water to land) and, as the book progresses, offering up explanations of how specific groups or species evolved. These include but aren’t limited to ichthyosaurs, flying reptiles, crocodiles, birds, rhinos, elephants, snakes, whales of course, and finally primates and Home Sapiens. Each of these segments offers up a general explanation and specific illustrative examples within the group/species and some textual information about each one, including pronunciation guide, time period, size, and a brief description of context, behavior, physical features. The book closes with a brief explanation of how evolution is ongoing and, sadly, a quick two-paragraph dive into the current loss of biodiversity (the “Sixth Extinction”).

Really, I can’t say enough about the quality of the text, the diagrams, the contextual background, how it boils down complex matters into digestible, understandable language, and more. This is just a superior work of non-fiction and is highly recommended for any home.

A beautiful book that combines the appeal of a picture book with the education of a non-fiction book.
Great illustrations and highly recommended.

My seven year old and I both loved this book! Every year we study the Timeline of Life in our Montessori school and he and I found it to be the perfect companion to the stories of our animal ancestors! This book is filled with information that, not only answered many of the seven year old's questions, but also sparked an interest to learn even more.
It's a beautiful book with lovely illustrations and carefully curated information. The charts were easy to follow and we enjoyed learning the proper pronunciations for the many many creatures featured in the book.
We both highly recommend this book to teachers, librarians, families, and children! It's a great addition to any and all libraries!