Walrus Song

Learn about how these captivating creatures flop and plop and call and play their way in and out of the icy waters they call home.

What’s the ruckus?
What’s that sound?
Walrus calls and songs astound—
Honk, honkkkk! HOOO, HOOOOT!

Diving, feasting, twirling—catch a glimpse of the joy found in a walrus’s icy home. Follow as it plays hide-and-seek with a friend, lounges on an ice floe, and demonstrates an impressive repertoire of sounds. Janet Lawler celebrates the many wonders of being a walrus in a story that’s brought to life through Timothy Basil Ering’s exuberant artwork. Readers curious to learn more will find a glossary at the end, along with some cool walrus facts: Did you know that a walrus can eat more than four thousand clams in a feeding frenzy—and that some walruses weigh more than a car?Walruses have never looked more adorable. Lawler’s spare text and Ering’s vibrant illustrations, rendered in charcoal and acrylic paint on paper, effortlessly introduce the lovable mammal. . . . The lyrical and rhythmic narrative will engage readers, and the spreads on walrus songs will invite kids to imitate with gusto. . . the full package is begging to be read aloud.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Appended with walrus facts that reference specific spreads, this will please a range of audiences, from squirmy toddlers enticed by the rhymes to would-be marine biologists.
—Booklist

Lawler keeps the tone light and fun while imparting a great deal of information. . . . Ering’s brilliant, luminous, lifelike paintings capture their subject close-up and in great detail. . . will entrance little readers and their grown-ups.
—Kirkus Reviews

[Lawler’s] clever, vivid poetry and Ering’s exuberant, oversize illustrations in charcoal and acrylic paint bring the walrus to vivid life.
—The Buffalo News

With rhyming text, Lawler provides an engaging and educational peek into the life of a walrus.
—WORLD Magazine

The chunky, bewhiskered walrus might not sound like the most debonair of sea creatures, but Janet Lawler’s cheerful verses do a great job capturing its charisma. . . . With Timothy Basil Ering’s expressive close-up illustrations and a collection of walrus facts at the end, Lawler’s picture book is an appealing and poetic ode to the ‘solid, massive’ creature.
—The Virginian PilotJanet Lawler is the author of many books for children and is particularly inspired by the natural world. Her inspiration for this book came after listening to a YouTube recording of ten hours’ worth of walrus sounds, after which she wanted to learn more about these interesting creatures and share that knowledge with young readers. She had great fun creating words that reflect the weird noises walruses make! Janet Lawler lives with her family in Connecticut.

Timothy Basil Ering is the illustrator of the Newbery Medal winner The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo as well as Finn Throws a Fit! by David Elliott and Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson. He is also the author-illustrator of The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone, The Unexpected Love Story of Alfred Fiddleduckling, and The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger. Timothy Basil Ering lives in Kingston, Massachusetts.