TALE OF A GREAT WHITE FISH |Maggie de Vries

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Tale of a Great White Fish

Author: Maggie de Vries
Illustrator: Renne Benoit
BUY – Tale of a Great White Fish

A unique and astonishing story which follows the life of a monster fish, which when finally tagged by scientists in 2005, was over 177 years old!

This amazing Sturgeon fish was 6.1 meters long and 770kg in weight. That’s heavier than 3 fully grown male lions!

Not surprisingly these great fish are survivors from before the era of the dinosaur! However as time goes by they are finding it harder to survive. Dams and landslides block their migration up river to breed, lakes are drained and new diseases threaten their kind.

This beautifully illustrated book is told through the voice of a narrator who speaks of the fish’s experiences as she grows. She sees changes in her environment, journeys up river to spawn,
she is caught three times and escapes.

Hooked again and left for dead she is thankfully rescued by local children.

She hears the words of the oldest boy, “No, We’ll do no cutting. This fish is big and that means old”. He crouches low. “I’ll tell you something else. This fish is alive”.

Given that the story spans so many years, it is structured with large jumps of time which are introduced with the next date, the new age, length and weight of the fish.

I read this with my six year old nephew who was astounded that a fish could live so long and grow so enormous. Each time the fish grew we had to pace out how long it was and talk about how heavy that might be. He had no real concept of time, his grandma being the oldest thing he could think of!

Tale of a Great White Fish was inspired by the true story of the Sturgeon fish in the mighty Fraser River, the longest river in British Columbia, Canada. It blends historic stories and changes with local people’s memories and present day efforts to protect these great creatures.

Laws now protect the mighty Sturgeon from death at the hands of the fishers. Through books like these we have an opportunity to discover these mysterious creatures, to learn respect for them and to marvel at their strength and longevity.

This niche book will be of interest to anyone developing their environmental and ecological awareness or learning about the amazing life cycles of endangered creatures.

We had fun reading it and talking about the Sturgeon facts at the back of the book and even had a go at drawing it from the species diagram, Barbels and all!

BUY – Tale of a Great White Fish