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Introduction: Ask children to share what they know about blue whales.
If I Were a Blue Whale
If I were a blue whale
I would feel the salt water as blue as
the sky at night when the moon is full.
If I were a blue whale
I would gobble the tiny krill
as small as a period.
If I were a blue whale
I would listen to other blue whale
mothers talking
to their babies as quietly as mice.
If I were a blue whale
I would breathe the fresh air
as clean as a new day.
If I were a blue whale
I would listen to the waves
crashing against the shore
as loudly as thunder above a stormy sea.
If I were a blue whale
I would dream of swimming to land
and walking on water.
Poem by Nicholas Spanoudis, Age 8
Taken from Cotner, June. Bless the Beasts: Children's Prayers and Poems about Animals. Illustrated by Kris Waldherr. N.Y.:
SeaStar Books, 2002, unpaged. ISBN: 1587171767.
Extension: a) Discuss the strengths of the poem and how remarkable it is that an eight year old wrote it. b) Read other
poems and books about blue whales. Simon James has several good picture books. c) Ask students to talk and write about what
they would do if they were a blue whale.
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