Do you love Orca’s? Have you ever heard of an orca called Granny? Granny was known world wide by the lovers of Orcas, particularly those who would go watch the whales out in British Columbia.
It is my delight to introduce you Wild Orca, a lovely picture book I reviewed on J-pod the Orca pod from British Columbia. This book focuses on Granny, the oldest Orca that was known to people. Brenda Peterson does a great job of bringing her and her family to life. This book was provided by Raincoast Books (a great company to work for).
Granny was the matriarch of three pods being studied, pods J, K, and L. They all contained members of her extended family, and every year a little girl called Mia would watch for her to return. Mia’s dad was part of the whale research team, so Mia had learned to watch for the whales to return.
Wendell Minor contributed excellent paintings to the text of this lovely, meaty picture book. It’s a great book filled with a lot of information about whales and about the times that Granny would have lived through.
Did you know that Orcas out in British Columbia predominately eat salmon and that they are endangered? Too many of them are being lost. Orcas should live to be about 80 years old and too many of them are not making it that long. Too many of the babies aren’t making it past their first year. Pollution, sonar tests, over fishing and dams causing problems for the salmon being the main culprits.
My Thoughts:
Oh this book, filled me with such knowledge, but the end of it I was smiling for the joy that is an Orca. 🙂 It’s a lovely book, It would be either a great introduction to the study of Wild Orcas, point to a tourism industry in British Columbia, or be a fine part of an endangered animal study. OR you could pick it up just to read about a great animal from Canada.
Wild Orca: The oldest, wisest whale in the world
Brenda Peterson
Wendell Minor (illustrator)
Christy Ottaviano Books (Henry Holt & Co)
40 pages, 4-8 years, softcover
Orca, Sea Animals, Sea Mammal, tourism, endangered animals, research
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Find it on Amazon.
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