Today, TeachingBooks.net welcomes author Dr. Sally Hodson as she stops by on her blog tour to discuss her new book Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas (Dawn, 2012).
Books are often inspired by moments of magic. I will never forget an encounter I had with Granny, the one-hundred-year-old matriarch of the clan of endangered orcas that lives in Pacific Northwest waters. I was on a whale-watching boat when Granny swam alongside, raised her head above water and looked directly into my eyes for several moments. Making eye contact with a century old great-grandmother orca is an experience that cannot be described with words. I was captivated and knew I had to share her story with kids. I wrote Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas to bring children into her world so they could imagine and experience life in an orca family.
Granny and her family are real killer whales who belong to one of the most famous and studied wild orca populations in the world. During the century of her life, Granny has experienced the entire range of human behavior towards orcas. Once feared and shot on sight, now orcas have become Pacific Northwest icons and their images appear everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people watch orcas from boats and shore.
Illustration ©2012 Ann Jones. Published by Dawn Publications. All rights reserved.
In Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas I weave science with story to celebrate the importance of family and friendship and the power of a grandmother’s love in helping her endangered clan survive. I hope my book will inspire people of all ages to care for our planet and to learn more about the animals that share it with us, including the wild orcas.
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