Last month, it was all about 2-year-old F and birds. This month, following 7-year-old S’s trip to Sea World, his indignation over tuna depletion, and his insistence that he’s ready to see Jaws (no, not merely this version), the books I’ve brought home for our U.S. history reading have a distinct aquatic theme.

They include:

  • Surprising Sharks (Candlewick, 2003) by Nicola Davies and illustrated by James Croft
  • Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 (Crown, 2003) by Michael Capuzzo
  • The Cod’s Tale (Putnam, 2001) by Mark Kurlansky and illustrated by S. D. Schindler
  • Salmon Summer (Houghton Mifflin, 1998) by Bruce McMillan
  • Whaling Days (Clarion, 1993) by Carol Carrick and illustrated by David Frampton
  • Gone A-Whaling (Clarion, 1998) by Jim Murphy
  • Nobody Particular (Henry Holt, 2000) by Molly Bang, who writes on her web site, “Now that I have some distance from it, what a royally stupid title for a book. It should have been called Outrageous Warrior or Crazy Woman Warrior or even Passionate Shrimper Fights Chemical Plant Polluters.”