HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS!

HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS!

HUMPBACK WHALES CELEBRATED WITH CHILDREN'S BOOK RELEASE  & LIFE-SIZED HUMPBACK AT PORTLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

Portland, Maine - As the humpback whales head towards the Gulf of Maine, the Portland Public Library and Maine children's book illustrator Jamie Hogan will be celebrating their big arrival with a free family event on June 1st, from 1:00 - 3:00 PM in the Rines Auditorium. 

Ever wonder how big these marvelous mammals are?  Young readers will get a chance to stand beside (and inside) a life-sized humpback as part of an outreach program of the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine.  Educators from the museum will talk about the daily routine of Istar the Whale, including what she eats, the places she travels, and who she spends her time with.

Ever wonder what the watery world of a baby humpback looks like?  Peaks Island children's book illustrator Jamie Hogan will present her illustrations for the new picture book Here Come the Humpbacks! by April Pulley Sayre and lead children in a whale migratory game. 

"I have always known that humpbacks were astounding creatures, but researching the illustrations for Here Come the Humpbacks! left me in awe of these mammals," said illustrator Jamie Hogan, "Now when I'm crossing Casco Bay, I imagine the families of whales swimming out in the deep. They are fascinating, intelligent, and utterly worth caring about."

The rich, blue pastel drawings for Here Come the Humpbacks!, the seventh children's book Jamie Hogan has illustrated, have been praised for their beauty, but also praised for their scientific accuracy.  The book review journal Kirkus Reviews said that Hogan's "deep blues and greens highlighted with white crests are rendered in charcoal and pastel on sanded paper, providing a textural immediacy that plunges readers into the ocean."  An educator on behalf of the National Science Teacher's Association said that "Jamie Hogan’s richly expressive underwater pictures invited me to reach out and mentally touch this watery environment."

Families attending will be entered to win a summer whale watch courtesy of Odyssey Whale Watch.  Autographed copies of Here Come the Humpbacks! will be for sale at the event courtesy of Longfellow Books.