ACTIVITY BELOW

Free Template

 12 Daring Grays

Candlewick - 2026

Written by Nora Nickum & Illustrated by Elly MacKay

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Follow a dozen brave gray whales in search of food as they take a high-risk, high-reward 170-mile detour off their already grueling migration route to the Arctic.

In February, some twenty thousand gray whales set off from Baja California on a long, hard journey north, toward food and survival. Hungry and thin, they push on week after week, past California, Oregon, and Washington to the tip of that state, where twelve of them peel off and make an eastward turn into the Salish Sea. There they will wait in the deep for the tide to rise, only to swim into the dangerously shallow waters of a mudflat, hurriedly plowing the bottom for food before the water recedes once more. Will their daring be rewarded? Will they survive to join their fellow whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas? Elly MacKay’s fluid, saturated artwork sets the stage for the whales’ exciting journey, complementing Nora Nickum’s lyrical, factual narrative. Back matter takes a deeper dive into the intriguing habits of gray whales and offers resources for curious readers.

“Nickum’s quiet, flowing prose sets the scene with vivid, sensory detail. . . . The speckled whales seem ready to splash off the page in each dioramic scene. A stunning and unforgettable journey.”
- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus

REVIEWS

*** A Junior Library Guild Selection***

“Nickum’s poetry conveys the story beautifully. . ..With vibrant, mixed-media illustrations, MacKay depicts the lengthy journey and changing settings through a shifting range of shades, mostly pastels. . . . For nonfiction that elicits an emotional investment from readers, this is an excellent purchase for all libraries.”
- STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

“Nickum’s quiet, flowing prose sets the scene with vivid, sensory detail. . . . The speckled whales seem ready to splash off the page in each dioramic scene. A stunning and unforgettable journey.”
- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus

“Young readers and their adults will be equally drawn into this look at the lives of these gentle, clever giants and the underlying theme that sometimes it can be worth it to forge your own path.”
- STARRED REVIEW, Booklist



A POD of Whales - Whole Class Activity! - Free Template

Gray whales are covered in barnacles, whale lice and scars giving their skin a mottled texture. Using salt and watercolour, you can create interesting textures to bring these 3D whales to life. Hang them and let them sway or sit them up as a sculpture.

Instructions:

  1. Cut out whale body, tail and fin.

  2. Cut slots (marked in gray).

  3. Punch hole (middle of the back) if you want to hang the whales.

  4. Draw an eye and whale smile on the other side of the whale.

  5. Working quickly, coat the body, fin and tail with water.

  6. Paint the whale parts with watercolour and quickly sprinkle with salt.

  7. Let dry. Repeat #6 (or paint both sides and prop pieces up)

  8. Assemble whale. Reinforce with tape if necessary.

  9. They will sit on a table or you can hang them from a string.

  10. If hanging a pod of whales stagger the string lengths.

Materials:

  • PDF of Whales - Printed on Cardstock (There are 2 whales per page)

  • Scissors

  • Tape (if you wish to reinforce the tail and fins)

  • String (and a stick to tie the whales onto)

  • Watercolours / brushes/ water

  • Salt

  • Marker (for adding and eye and smile to the other side of the paper)

  • If you don’t want to paint the whales you could colour them instead

3D Whale Template PDF