"Brunelle's engaging voice strikes the right balance between narration and exposition." -- The Horn Book , Starred Review "Ideal for young readers who love simple, clear facts about animals or for older readers who will find the decomposition process fascinating. An excellent addition to any elementary library collection. " --School Library Journal , Starred Review "Brunelle's prose is both lucid and poetic, while Caldecott-winning illustrator Chin depicts all of these changes in precise but lyrical ways. Grand and engrossing. " --Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review "Brunelle's work, accompanied by the astonishingly realistic watercolor and gouache artwork of Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin (Watercress), is an exquisite ode to the largest documented animal on Earth." -- Shelf Awareness , Starred Review "[An] amazing picture book. The content seamlessly integrates technical vocabulary, marine biology, and chemistry; Chin's meticulous watercolor illustrations carefully align and support the text, and rich back matter will appeal to researchers.

" --Booklist , Starred Review ".the work meticulously and sensitively portrays the countless sea creatures sustained by a single carcass over more than a century. It's a thoughtful breakdown of death supporting life and a brilliant exposition of the way that populations grow and are sustained." --Publishers Weekly , Starred Review "Honest, informed, and enthusiastic, this does exactly what the best science books do--leave kids curious about what else is out there is to discover." -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , Starred Review "There's poetry to Brunelle's conveyance of facts. [A] moving exploration of death and life deep below the surface of the water and the interconnection of multiple layers of existence." -- The Boston Globe.