Wayne Grover

I have loved Wayne Grover’s books about dolphins ever since I first read them to my oldest daughter, well over 20 years ago, when she was about five years old. I just finished reading this one to my youngest, who is six, tonight. She loved the story, although she was afraid for Wayne for awhile when he was lost at sea. She couldn’t believe that he risked his life for a gold chain! This book teaches a very important life lesson, without being preachy.

I just gotta love Sonlight. This homeschool curriculum has provided me with a lot of great books to read over the past month. The only problem is that they're very quick to finish and so I have to write more reviews. Anyway, this is a good one, worth checking out. It's a slightly modified true story about an American who stumbles upon a secluded Arabian village. He interacts with the people, especially a boy named Ali, and ends up connecting them with the 20th Century. Interwoven with this show more tale is Ali's coming of age. It's an interesting tale, though sometimes I had to wonder how much rewriting Mr. Grover did to create this novel.
--J. show less

This book would be appropriate for grades 3-5 as they are learning to make connections to different subjects in their life. This book would allow them to see how the dolphin family relates to their family. Also, they could pick out the figurative and descriptive language that is used in the book, which is also in their standards. It would probably be best to use this as an independent read as it is relevant, but it would be difficult to base an entire lesson around the book. It is just a show more fascinating book they would enjoy. show less

I would use this book in a first or second grade classroom that is learning about animals from the ocean. We could read this book and learn more about dolphins and facts about them. The students could then make an informational poster about the different things they learned about the dolphins.