Welcome to Whalebone Mansion is such an adorable and beautifully illustrated story that is as educational as it is captivating. The artwork is so fun and detailed, while the informational text is easy to digest and compatible with young readers. I especially loved the reading suggestions and information at the back of the book so that readers can engage more with this topic. My 8 year old now needs to know everything he can about bone-eating zombie worms.

I just love science books disguised as fun adventure books! This delightful picture book has beautiful illustrations and tons of facts, but presented as part of a lighthearted dialogue. Many thanks to NetGalley

Beautiful ocean art, paired with a minimal text adventure story, complimented by related facts in text boxes. Welcome to Whalebone Mansion makes for a unique read in that is a mix of narrative story and fact. .

This is a really fun children’s book that explores the topic of whale falls. This phenomenon is a subject that I oddly really enjoy and is such a fascinating and often overlooked part of our natural systems, that I was excited to see it made accessible for a younger audience. While I think this would be a quick, fun, and informative read for those in the target age group, and while this book succeeds in making a unique topic exciting and approachable, a few parts didn’t quite work for me.

For one, I would have loved to see a more developed story or narrative arc to help guide readers through the material. While we do follow two little fish around the site of the whale fall who act as our narrators and guides, there isn’t much of a true narrative, which made the book feel a bit one-dimensional at times. A whale fall offers such a rich backdrop that it could have been a powerful setting for exploring broader themes like reciprocity, empathy, and the interdependence of natural systems. Without a more central story, though, the book leans heavily on presenting information in a fairly flat way, which felt like a missed opportunity.

I also had some concerns about how some of the various sea creatures presented throughout the book were depicted. While I understand the goal might be to create a dramatic or eerie mood, I worry that portraying these animals as creepy or dangerous can unintentionally reinforce negative public perceptions, something that already affects real-world attitudes and conservation efforts. This is something seen most notably with animals like sharks and bats.

That said, the artwork throughout this book is absolutely gorgeous, and I appreciated the inclusion of additional resources at the back of the text.

Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for the advanced copy for review. Opinions are my own.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Welcome to Whalebone Mansion is an informative and beautifully illustrated graphic picture book for children about what happens to a whales bones after they die. It shows many interesting creatures that take part in the decomposition of the bones and that take shelter within them. The information is compact and appropriate for the targeted reader/audience, and the added information and reading suggestions at the back of the book are informative for older children and adults too.

Whale falls are endlessly fascinating to me! I love this playful and informative take on what creatures lurk in the Whalebone Mansion. I read this e-ARC with my two children, and they immediately asked to find more books on the topic and watch the videos linked at the end of the book. You know that a book is successful when it piques a child's attention and has them asking for more!

The illustrations in this book are evocative, and the playful banter between the two "narrating" fish addresses the fears a child might have about the topic.
This is a fabulous book!

I love the way this is illustrated and the way the fish make their way through this "haunted house" and find different underwater creatures. It was an interesting way to learn about different creatures lurking below!