The Whale Who Swam Through Time: A Two-Hundred-Year Journey in the Arctic - Hardcover

by Alex Boersma (Author), Nick Pyenson (Author), Alex Boersma (Illustrator)

This sweeping nonfiction picture book The Whale Who Swam Through Time explores the 200-year lifespan of a bowhead whale and the changing environment that surrounds her.

Almost 200 years ago . . .

Our journey begins with the birth of a bowhead whale, the longest-living mammal in the world. Over the course of her life in the Arctic, the bowhead whale witnesses many changes: from an era of peace and solitude to one of oil rigs and cruise liners.

With gorgeous, detailed, and striking illustrations, this well researched and thoughtfully curated nonfiction story captures the magic and beauty of the natural world, while also providing a thoughtful account of how humans have impacted our changing ecosystems and a call-to-action for protecting the environment.

A 2023 OSTB Selected Title

Author Biography

Nick Pyenson is the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. His work has taken him to every continent, and his scientific discoveries frequently appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, Los Angeles Times, The Economist, Popular Mechanics, USA Today, on NPR, NBC, CBC, and the BBC. Along with the highest research awards from the Smithsonian, he has also received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Obama White House. He lives with his family in Maryland.

Alex Boersma is a Canadian scientific illustrator living in Chicago. After studying geology and studio art at Vassar College in New York, Alex worked at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, conducting research on whale evolution in the Pyenson Lab, Paleobiology department. Articles on her research have appeared in the New York Times, BBC News, Nature, and the Washington Post. As an independent scientific illustrator, her clients have included the American Museum of Natural History, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Stanford University, and Duke University Marine Lab.