The Blue Whale

Cries of delight greet this book as we pull it from its slipcase, open it up and keep on pulling so that the panels click-clack into place to reveal a yard-long portrait of the blue whale. Created in association with the American Museum of Natural History in New York and inspired by the huge fibreglass model that hangs from the ceiling of the museum's restaurant, it comes with American spelling and terminology. But don't be put off, for it's packed with useful statistics about the size, weight and speed of this gentle giant as well as intriguing information about the unique patterning of each whale, or why the northern and southern hemisphere populations never mix. More detailed information is given in a booklet attached to the inside back cover, and we learn that these majestic animals, hunted almost to extinction by the mid-1960s, have now increased their numbers to around 10,000. One hopes that books such as this will help safeguard their future, and meanwhile the sturdy production of this volume should ensure it withstands repeated handling.