Review Detail

NARWHAL: THE ARCTIC UNICORN is a story about the Narwhal journey north, primarily following an older Narwhal and his pod. The book explains what they are doing along the way as well as the dangers and predators they must face. Additional text on each spread gives more factual details about narwhals in the situations shown.

What I loved: This is an informative story about narwhals and their journey. The text is long enough to tell the story but also includes smaller text to give additional details and context (such as explaining what makes up a narwhal pod) on each page spread. The narwhals and other animals are drawn with great detail. The backmatter includes more information to start children on the path to learning even more about these arctic unicorns.

What left me wanting more: The story does not quite pull the reader in the way that fictionalized accounts might typically. While it talks a bit about the old narwhal, it does not give them a name or add any emotions to the story, in the documentary style, which will work better for some readers rather than others. The images use muted colors as well that will work better for older readers. The focus does remain on the dangers, with polar bears and killer whales shown as predators (though not actively eating), which may be tough for sensitive readers. However, these are accurate per nature and give the whole picture of why this can be a dangerous journey.

Final verdict: NARWHAL: THE ARCTIC UNICORN is an educational picture book that will work well for elementary school aged readers who enjoy learning about animals.