Target Audience and Structure

This story is mainly directed to 6+ years old children and it is composed of 11 illustrations; each constitutes 2 pages (22 pages in total).

Unique Aspects and Educational Focus

This story is different from other children''s educational stories because it is very simple and straightforward in describing the importance of the marine food chain from base (phytoplankton and zooplankton) to the top (large fish and mammals).

The story sheds light on the importance of the base and how its elimination or heavy decline would mean no food for higher levels, causing massive mortalities.

The food chain also explains how fish larvae depend on zooplankton to survive and grow, and how zooplankton in turn depend on phytoplankton for the same reasons.

In addition, the story shows how the largest animal on Earth (the Blue Whale) depends on a certain zooplankton species (Krills) as a main source of food and how pollution is affecting life at sea by eliminating the food from the base of the food chain.

The story also describes the feeding mechanism of blue and other baleen whales on krills, showing the role of baleen in the mouth of the blue whale in krill capture as well as other baleen whales.

Environmental Issues and Conservation

The story highlights pollution by showing the most common sources of pollution (garbage on beaches and oil pollution) with recommendations on what should be done in both cases and how this affects the marine food chain.

Art, Format, and Unique Features

Technical aspects regarding the art and format of this book are also distinctive through mixing both styles of illustrations and comics, which is something rarely seen in this genre.

The synopsis in the back cover is narrated by one of the characters, which is rare in children''s illustrated stories, if not the first time in "Wade the Whale".

The covers (as well as the pages inside) form a single picture when spread out, and the colours used are similar to those in nature to give viewers a feeling of the environment, attracting them to the book.

Conclusion and Educational Value

For the aforementioned reasons, we believe children will be very attracted to and may immensely learn from this story. Additionally, parents and teachers will undoubtedly recommend the story for their children or pupils.