Twelve Daring Grays: A Whale Migration Adventure -- Nora Nickum, Hardcover

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.

Author: Nora Nickum
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 02/10/2026
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9781536234701
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 09/19/2025 pg. 1
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2025

About the Author
Nora Nickum writes books for children about nature and STEM topics and leads ocean conservation work at the Seattle Aquarium. She is the author of the middle-grade nonfiction book Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest, about the toothed whales' plight and the people working to help them recover, as well as the picture book This Book Is Full of Holes, illustrated by Robert Meganck. Nora Nickum lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.

Elly MacKay is an acclaimed paper artist and award-winning creator of books for children. She wrote and illustrated Frostfire, In the Clouds, and Red Sky at Night, among other titles, and is the illustrator of many picture books, including The Enchanted Symphony by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, I Am a Meadow Mermaid by Kallie George, and Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm by Laura Purdie Salas. Before pursuing a career in picture books, she taught in schools and was an educator in galleries. Elly MacKay lives in Owen Sound, Ontario.