What was it that allowed the Vikings to cross the cold Atlantic Ocean to America? And Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and the Pilgrims after that?

What fish became a staple of the medieval diet in Europe, helped spur the American Revolution, and helped the early New Englanders start making money of their own?

It was cod, a fish that used to be so plentiful, explorers reported being able simply to dip a basket into the ocean to collect them. A fish so common that for many hundreds of years man took it for granted. But now, only a few cod remain in the oceans, a reminder of the once- abundant fish that changed the world and of the devastating effect man has had on our earth.

Based on Mark Kurlansky’s critically acclaimed best-seller for adults, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World—about which The New York Times said: “This eminently readable book is a new tool for scanning world history”—this is now an incredible story for young readers. With S. D. Schindler’s stunning, often hilarious watercolors, a timeline, recipes, and other extras, The Cod’s Tale offers a unique look at a thousand years of human civilization.

From the dust jacket