Caroline Woodward’s latest children’s book, Have You Heard a Whale Exhale? (Pownal Street Press, 2024), invites readers into a world where nature’s rhythms and the magic of marine life are explored with a poet’s eye and a naturalist’s care.
Designed for preschoolers, the book takes readers on a coastal adventure by introducing seals, whales, seagulls and various other animals through playful rhyming couplets. Through sensory imagery, it invites children to imagine experiences like feeling cold winds or smelling campfire smoke. The conversational writing style further encourages reader participation, with each spread’s whimsical and engaging artwork – featuring dark blues and greys with bright accents – prompting reflection on the animals and their habitats. As a whole, the book promotes nature awareness and concludes with a message on ocean conservation.
From lighthouse keeper to author
Woodward’s sensory-rich narrative is inspired by a distinct memory from her years as a lighthouse keeper on Lennard Island near Tofino, British Columbia. “Waiting in our radio room to call in my weather reports to Coast Guard radio, and through our big window facing southwest, I would see the annual migration of whales from Mexico to the Bering Sea every March,” she recalls. She viewed the migration of mammals and birds as nothing short of a “kind of miracle” – and one that she simply had to write about.
The light station’s isolation and proximity to nature provided her with a unique perspective that she translated into the book. “One of the main things lighthouse keepers do is closely observe things,” she explains: “from impending fog to insects on the walkway at night. From seals hauling themselves up onto rocks to escape predator Orcas, to hearing the voices of kayakers lost in the fog and stumbling around on our small island.” Because of this unique vantage point, “I became an even more avid birdwatcher than I already was, and I also enjoyed seeing porpoises, dolphins, seals, sea lions and three kinds of whales while in my kayak or from land.”
And that’s not all! She recalls studying sea anemones, mussels, Humboldt squid, bat stars, starfish, sunfish, and all kinds of cod, halibut, crabs, oysters, prawns – plus five kinds of salmon – all near the dozen or so light stations where she worked. This environment was “a lot like being in a 24-hour non-stop Nature of Things documentary!,” she marvels. “It was a joy to be able to express some of the things I had seen and experienced in a playful way (like the very smelly sea lion herd, for instance) in this book.”
From proprioception to empathy . . . through words and pictures
This close observation of nature during her lighthouse years translates into the sensory awareness she seeks to foster in young readers. She highlights the importance of proprioception—a sense that extends beyond the basic five senses, and which today’s educators are increasingly familiar with. “I wanted to link the many ways we share bodily awareness, our 3-D selves, and more nuanced sensations we share with other creatures,” she explains. This connection – whether it’s feeling the cold rain, the warmth of a campfire, or the safety of being with a friend – is something Woodward believes is crucial for children to understand and articulate.
“Empathy with other living beings is one of the kindest traits we adults can demonstrate and encourage in little ones,” she notes. “I hoped children would gain some useful vocabulary and non-threatening examples to describe how they were experiencing things – very early personification and simile examples, in fact.” Woodward sees this as especially critical because “I believe we are all connected on this Earth, and that small, important examples – like not stepping on living creatures in tidal pools, or removing shells from the beach, or disturbing whales by boating too close to them when they are trying to feed – are things we can talk about while exploring the oceans and beaches.”
Claire Watson’s illustrations – which Woodward describes as “arresting, detailed, and sumptuous” – bring the natural world to life visually, enhancing the immersive experience. She especially loves how Watson drew a monocle on one curious seal. “It took me a few days to notice it, and then I laughed my head off!” she chuckles. “I’m also fond of the whales enjoying herring roe on kelp “plates” because I learned from indigenous neighbors how they eat it!” She also offers a tip for readers who enjoy the artwork: “Claire’s painting is hilarious, but I also love the hidden poster beneath the paper cover jacket —don’t forget to discover it!”
And just as Woodward has written the words to invite sensory exploration, Watson’s artwork invites interaction that is both educational and entertaining. For example, Woodward explains, “There are some ‘big’ words in these pages, like octopus and anemone. When I read aloud, I ask how many legs the octopus has . . . and kids realize why four more are needed. For ‘anemone’, I lead a chorus to match the illustration’s mouth shapes, and it’s fun to see five-year-olds mastering the word.” ”
The product of 3 lifelong loves: nature, reading . . . and writing
In fact, Have You Heard a Whale Exhale? is the outgrowth of a deep connection to the natural world that preceded Woodward’s time as a lighthouse keeper. She grew up in a remote area, where nature was fundamentally important: “We had horses on our farm which I rode after school to check on the whereabouts of our cattle… transforming our slow-moving gentle work horses into racehorses, or at least valiant steeds!”
And equally foundational was her deep passion for reading. As an avid reader from childhood, one of the highlights of her young life was the arrival of the bookmobile from her two-room school to her family’s home, after it traversed “notoriously difficult gravel and dirt roads over a steep and winding river descent and across a narrow bridge”. It would usually manage two trips a year safely, and whenever it did, Woodward eagerly selected three books. “I loved Heidi the most of all the books I read – and, of course, all the horse books I could get my hands on,” she smiles. “And my aunt gave us a whole set of My Book House, collected and edited by Olive Beaupré Miller, which I devoured from start to finish – all twelve books – gorgeously illustrated, with stories from around the world, except for….Canada!”
An interest in writing was born at almost the same time. Having suffered through the banalities of Dick, Jane and Spot in elementary school reading texts, Woodward knew that she and her friends all led much more exciting lives than that hapless trio, who lacked tree forts and snow forts, and horses to ride and cattle to herd. So in grade two, she proactively undertook to “remedy this impoverished literary situation” by writing a book, which she wanted made into a hardcover, with room inside for her to add drawings. But sadly, this “highly extra-curricular” endeavour flummoxed her young teacher, and nothing came of it. And sadly, she explains, “this ‘priceless’ manuscript has been lost forever . . . and was likely used for fire starter!” However, notes Woodward, “these days students are encouraged to write and illustrate their own books in grade 1 and 2 and beyond, which makes me so happy for them!”
Woodward began writing with serious focus and intention during high school, when she contributed a weekly column to the Alaska Highway News, before earning a BA and a teaching degree at the University of British Columbia. Through her prolific career, Woodward has worn many reading and writing hats – including publishers’ representative, bookseller, managing editor, publicist, and creative writing teacher. She has also written across multiple genres, including fiction, poetry, memoirs and children’s books. And she has been recognized for her efforts and expertise. She received an Honorary Associate of Arts degree from Northern Lights College and has been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the Bill Duthie Booksellers Prize and BC’s Chocolate Lily Award.
From coastal lighthouse keeper to illuminator of the larger world
But to this day, she looks back on her period as a lighthouse keeper from 2008 to 2021 as the the most profound in shaping her writing. It directly inspired works such as Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper and now, Have You Ever Heard a Whale Exhale?. And she continues to draw inspiration from the wild and beautiful West Coast, where she now writes nearly full-time.
As she looks to the future, Woodward hints at new projects that will take her — and her readers — into different parts of the world, exploring the lives of creatures she has yet to meet. She explains cryptically that she is “making connections – thinking of proprioception because it works to link humans to other beings – and . . .doing research on animals and birds I’m fascinated by, but have not lived near or observed in their native habitat.”
In the end? “Writing is the best excuse for learning all sorts of interesting things, ever. I figured that out in Grade Two and I’m so glad I kept at it!”
© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2024
