SEA WEEK The porpoise-driven life

If a Dolphin Were a Fish

by Loran Wlodarski; illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein

Everybody loves dolphins. At least they should. They navigate by sonor and kick shark butt and eat sushi. That's one heckuva fish.

But wait, they're not fish at all. Nor is a dolphin an octopus or a sea turtle, as this book helpfully points out. Klein's whimsical drawings in colored pencils morph a dolphin named Delfina into several other animals including, quite amusingly, a pelican.

No-nonsense prose sets us straight: what dolphins eat, how they bear and raise their young, even why they're bald.

The end notes even explain why dolphins aren't really porpoises, and how they're both closely related to whales. I think this would be the perfect read before taking a kid to SeaWorld where, by the way, Klein works as the on-staff artist.

Rating: *\*\

Comments

[Ontario Emperor]

"The porpoise-driven life"? Never stop blogging.

When I was young, a book such as this would have been beneficial to me. I don't know how long it took me to find out that a dolphin was not a fish.

[Anne]

Glad SOMEBODY noticed that headline! Sheesh.