ALA Booklist (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

This attractive book from the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series discusses the sounds made by dolphins. Pfeffer draws parallels between people's words and dolphins whistles, human babies' gurgles and baby dolphins' chirps, human mothers' warning words and dolphin mothers' scolding movements. Besides relating the wide range of sounds dolphins make, the author also describes how the sounds are made, their use in echolocation, and a variety of underwater noises made by whales. Davie's paintings portray the world beneath the waves with particular grace and surprising variety. The book closes with an excellent two-page diagram showing a dolphin's interior organs and bone structure. An inviting addition to science collections.

Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

In rural 1950s Alberta, white and native people rarely mix, so Will and Blackfoot Arthur's friendship is an oddity. When the two see rich Old Man Howe beating a Blackfoot youth, they use their marginal status to uncover the mystery. This initially slow-moving, overly complicated adventure centering on land ownership ultimately focuses as much on family history as it does on race.

Kirkus Reviews

A Stage 2 entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out series seeks to explain the mysteries of dolphin communication. Drawing parallels between human and dolphin interactions, Pfeffer describes dolphin vocabulary and the circumstances under which particular noises and gestures are made. Clear watercolors picture dolphins in diagram and in their natural environment; the varying angles and perspectives keep the blue-green sameness of palette from becoming boring. The text sticks narrowly to its topic, shining in its description of echolocation and its observations about dolphin behavior. It falls down, however, in its explanation of the "hows" of dolphin communication. Although it carefully discusses the role of cranial air sacs in the creation of dolphin vocalization, it's largely mute on the function of the "melon" (carefully labeled in more than one diagram) in the production or reception of sound, leaving a big question mark for curious readers. That there is very little else that goes into such detail on the subject for the age group makes this lack of explanation particularly frustrating; it also makes this, despite its flaws, a reasonable purchase. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)

School Library Journal (Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2004)

Gr 1-2 Beginning readers will enjoy this introductory title on dolphin communication. In addition to the creatures' use of clicks, whistles, and squeaks, the book explains how they use movements to send messages and echolocation to locate objects in the water. Pfeffer does a great job of keeping the concept understandable and comparing human and animal communication, but children may have some difficulty reading the text against the few dark pages. Davie's watercolor illustrations are pleasant and upbeat. The final spread with a labeled cross section of a dolphin is particularly informative. Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX