Our Fellow Earthers
Keep diving
Hello, everyone!
Guess what: I am a whale and I am getting in touch with you on behalf of us animals, your fellow Earthers, with whom you share this planet. We have found a way to communicate with you, humans, through the internet.
We see you around a lot and we know you cannot understand us when we talk to you, but we’ve received help from a distant place to make ourselves understood. We would like you to know us.
That's why we've written some stories and we hope you’ll read them. We thought you’d also be interested in knowing how we got help to do this. You’ll find out if you read the following letter we received recently, although we don’t know where from:
There was no signature or address…
That was when we decided to write stories about us.
We've created this web page to get them to you. When you read these stories you will be getting a glimpse of our lives.
A letter came from a distant place...
Click on the images
PREVIEW
We generated this preview combining the eBook and the audiobook for "Konga the Gray Whale," which are sold separately.
ALL BOOKS
BIOS FOR OUR HUMAN STAFF
inés horovitz
Writer
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spent my childhood in Buenos Aires and Virginia, USA. I graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a Biology degree and subsequently graduated with a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University, USA. My work in this field included projects analyzing how fossil and living species of mammals are related to each other in an evolutionary framework and I have published a number of papers about this subject for a variety of mammals. I conducted field work in different regions of the world, which helped me appreciate this fascinating and irreplaceable planet we have. I live in Los Angeles, USA, and am currently raising Leah, my wonderful daughter, I am working as an interpreter and translator, and in my spare time, I write stories.
Photo credit: Tunny Szpiro
Sarai vargas velástegui
Illustrator of Loliki The California Condor
Fashion Designer, jewelry maker, and nature admirer, I currently live in Quito, Capital of Ecuador.
My creations, on paper, digital format, and 3D materials, are greatly inspired by my observations of nature. This admiration of the natural world was encouraged from a young age and my childhood drawings are proof of my interest.
I refined my illustration skills during my higher studies in Fashion Design, which now I apply both to personal projects as well as to custom-made artwork, fashion-related or not. I would describe my design as attentive to detail, adaptable to different sources of inspiration, skilled in the use of various drawing and fabrication tools of fashion accessories. Discovering design in nature nurtures my creative spirit and I try to record it through photography. Experiencing the beauty of natural environments is part of my recreation when I walk or ride my bike. In my outdoor trips around Quito’s mountain regions I sometimes even see the majestic Andean Condor in its natural habitat!
Michele montini
Illustrator of Nakuun The Snowy Owl
I'm a concept artist and Illustrator from Italy, based in Bologna. I've graduated at Nemo Academy of Digital Arts in Florence, within the visual effect and concept art class, course I've chosen in early 2013, after 2 years of training as an autodidact. I realized I wanted to follow this path as a child, when I started my high school, in which I chose the "interior and industrial design" class: my goal was to be able to create something unique. In 2016 I started working as a concept artist for videogames while doing illustrations for books, cards and tabletop games. In 2018 I released my first game named Fractured. I usually spend all my free time in music, specifically as a songwriter, guitarist and singer for Havenlost, a progressive metal band, passion I had since I was 15 years old and I often put alongside painting.
ather jamal
Illustrator of Konga The Gray Whale
Ather graciously spent hours making my portrait and illustrating my adventures from Mexico to the Arctic, but declined having his photo and bio featured in this section. His beautiful watercolors speak volumes about his skills, however, and we decided to feature his portrait of me on the home page.
Konga
Leah Rosenthal
Voice of Konga, Nakuun and Loliki in audiobooks (English)
Leah was essential to recording the audiobooks and we are extremely pleased with the way she makes us sound in English. We could not have done it any better! She declined having her photo and bio featured in this section.
Konga, Nakuun and Loliki
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wrote these stories in a workshop taught by Bernard Selling. I am grateful to him for all his ideas and valuable feedback and to all the student writers in his class for all the fun writing sessions and for listening tirelessly to my stories and providing comments that improved them greatly. I thank Lina Horovitz and Skye Van Raalte for feedback, encouragement and ideas all along
the process, from writing to publishing. Thank you to my amazing illustrators, Ather Jamal, Michele Montini and Sarai Vargas Velástegui, who brought the animals and landscapes to life. And finally, many thanks to Leah Rosenthal for her enthusiasm and for skillfully becoming the voice of Konga, Loliki and Nakuun in the English recordings of the stories.