A nice adaptation of "Cod" by the same author; we enjoyed this short version as an audiobook.

I was pretty skeptical about this book, because the adult version is one of those NPR books that sounds eminently edifying but deadly dull, all with one-word titles (Longitude. Cod. Salt. Wallpaper: The Home Decor That Changed The World. Limestone: The Sedimentary Rock that Changed the World. Etc.) Anyway, the children's book is yes, edifying, but also quite readable and I learned a lot. About, for example, how the cod trade related to the slave trade.

I wish all NPR books had children's versions.

World history through the lens of cod. The end (our present) is not looking very hopeful.

2.5

A short, pretty interesting overview of the history of cod and how it shaped civilization, from Vikings to modern day. I did learn a few things, and have a few ideas about how I can pair it with some other titles in my library. The writing was a little choppy, though, and the little side stories and recipes, etc., in the margins didn't integrate well into the story.

For some reason, the picture book is only listed as an edition of the main book, I'm combining the two reviews here.

Book 4-2023: 3 stars, really enjoyed learning more about cod and its role in history. Found the first half more interesting, and wished there was an update somewhere of what has happened in the last 20 years.

Picture book 12-2022: 4 stars, a long picture book about the history of cod, its importance to humans, and how it is facing extinction. Fascinating to this adult reader, and to my 7- and 5-year-old boys!

I thought this book was a fairy tale until I started reading it. It is a true story of the codfish. I think that most children would need this read aloud to them and probably wouldn't much care for the poem and some of the sidebar information.

It traces the history of cod from Viking times to the present. There is a timeline. There are snippets from cookbooks, poems, and other primary sources. It is fascinating! I didn't realize how important cod was to the world as we know it today! I recommend this book to everyone. It is quick to read and so informative. Vikings, Icelanders, Cape Cod and the Pilgrims, the slave trade, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, Birdseye frozen fish....all needed COD!

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This young readers version of the book give readers a short but precise story of cod. The reason I still went for the children version of the book is because I'm afraid I'm not going to like the details that come with the original.

Cod is pretty much as ugly a fish as you will see around, so when someone recommended this book to me I wasn't too excited. However, after reading this picture book about how important cod has been to the development of America my feelings toward the ugly fished have changed. Like many nonfiction books today, A Cod's Tale details humans destruction of the species, but this book also does a nice job showing just how important the fish has been to people throughout the world. A great book to have in any library.

"They actually made an audiobook about a type of fish?!" This seemed so ridiculous that I became curious. Then I read so many positive reviews about it I was amazed and had to read it for myself. (by the way when I say "read" I almost always mean "listen") This book is about history and how history was influenced by the Cod fish. That's right, the history of the Cod...how a single type of fish influenced the vikings, the pilgrims and others. In a way it was like a good documentary on the history channel. It is only 50 minutes long, not much risk in trying it out.

Beautiful illustrations and an informative story.