Review: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Jan Fields (Adapter), Eric Scott Fisher (Illustrator)

Title: Moby Dick
Author: Herman Melville and Jan Fields (adapter)
Publisher: Magic Wagon
Published: Jan. 1, 2010
Pages: 112
Genre: Children ages 8 on up
Review: Library book
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

In Herman Melvilles classic tale of revenge, Ishmael tells his story of becoming a whaler on the Pequod. When Ishmael and his unexpected friend Queequeg join Captain Ahabs hunt for Moby Dick, the voyage of a lifetime turns into tragedy. The adventures of sailing the seas on the hunt for the great white whale is retold in the Calico Illustrated Classics adaptation of Melvilles Moby Dick. Calico Chapter Books is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO Group.

First off I haven't read Moby Dick at all and I am almost in my thirties. Always wanted to but it seemed to be too long of a book, one day I got to thinking I would like to introduce K into the classics and hope that he will enjoy them. I went to our local library and checked out this version of Moby Dick as it was the only one they had minus an older version and that was a graphic novel. K really enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected him too though at the end he wasn't happy about the sailors not catching Moby Dick. 

I felt this book wasn't all about Moby Dick it was more about trying to find out where he was at and the sailors hunting for him. I kind of wanted more seeing of the white whale than just a bunch of sailors sailing around trying to find him. 

Now I can understand that maybe they wanted to make it more entertaining for the younger kids so they can enjoy the book.

Captain Ahab is on a mission to find the white whale that took his leg but will he succeed? This story is told by one of the sailors who was aboard the boat with Captain Ahab and we learn what went on to find this whale. I think the children ages 8 on up will enjoy this book as it is not long, the chapters are pretty short and there is really no violence. Apart from the whales being cut and used for their oil. 

Questions and answers from K.

1. Did you enjoy the book?

"Yes I did but did Moby Dick live? Did no one capture him?

2. What was your favorite part?

"I liked all of it is there a part two?"

3. Would you recommend this book to your friends?

"Yes, I think they may like to read about a great whale that people hunt."

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His first two books gained much attention, though they were not bestsellers, and his popularity declined precipitously only a few years later. By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel, Moby-Dick — largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and most responsible for Melville's fall from favor with the reading public — was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature.