Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep

Book Author & Illustrator Victoria Cleal & Isobel Joy Te Aho-White
Rights Available World excl. NZ

A wonderful 32-page illustrated book that dives into the mysterious world of the colossal squid. Through engaging text and glorious images, it tells the story of a colossal squid’s life, from hatching out of a tiny egg to escaping the jaws of a sperm whale and becoming the world’s biggest invertebrate. Side topics range from Te Papa’s colossal squid specimen to Māori exploration of the sub Antarctic.
Readers will discover how the squid survives in the deep waters of Antarctica, and will meet other strange creatures that are uniquely adapted to this hostile environment.

Like Te Papa’s new Nature | Te Taiao exhibition zone, this book weaves together scientific inquiry, mātauranga Māori and plenty of humour. It shows how all living things are connected – and how we too are part of the natural world.

Awards
Winner of the Best Children’s Book category at the 2021 Whitley Awards for zoological literature

About the Author
Victoria Cleal is a writer and editor at Te Papa who has written interpretive text for exhibitions ranging from Surrealist Art to the Te Taiao | Nature Zone. She wrote several stories for the children’s TV series He Paki Taonga and its associated book. Her first book, based on a treasure at Te Papa and illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, was Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep. It won the Best Children’s Book at the 2021 Whitley Awards for zoological literature. Her second book, Lost in the Museum, was also illustrated by Isobel.

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, Kāi Tahu) is a graphic artist with a diploma in Visual Arts (UCOL) and a Bachelor of Design (Hons) majoring in illustration from Massey University. She has illustrated over 30 books and is a regular contributor to School Journal. Her illustration work with Te Papa Press include Lost in the Museum (2022) and Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep (2020) which won a Whitley Award, as well as several of the stories for the children’s TV series ‘He Paki Taonga’ and its associated book.