The Whale's Tale and the Otter's Side of the Story

Readers will laugh aloud at the silly antics of a pair of opinionated sea mammals in a tale presenting one side of a debate when read front-to-back and the other side when read back-to-front, slyly revealing the way identical facts can be used to support opposite positions.

A boastful whale and a showboating otter compete in a battle of words to prove that each is the greatest animal ever to swim the seas. Read one way, the first-person text brags about whales’ superiority; read the other way, it extols how much better otters are. Using true information about the two marine species to make both arguments, Kate Messner’s adroit text and Brian Biggs’s giggle-worthy artwork brilliantly illustrate how the same words can be used to express contradictory opinions when speakers have a one-sided view of the world.

Excellent illustrated backmatter includes:

A thought-provoking note from the author about the uses of language and how to evaluate bias Lively facts about whales and otters and the actual similarities of these fascinating marine mammals Resources for further reading about whales and otters

Publisher: Clarion Books
Published: 4/21/2026
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Size / Weight: 11 in H | 8 in W | 0.8 lb Wt
ISBN: 9780063372627


About the Author

Kate Messner is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous pictures and middle grade titles. Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a TV news reporter as well as an educator who spent fifteen years teaching middle school English. She lives on Lake Champlain.

Brian Biggs is an illustrator, designer, educator, and author who has written and/or illustrated more than seventy-five children’s books, including his own Everything Goes series. He lives in Philadelphia.