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Book Review of The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story by Darcy Pattison

Lately it seems like there has been a lot of discussion about fake news stories. I don’t think I’d heard much about fake news stories until just a few years ago. Because they have been focused on, it makes it seem like printing fake news stories is a new thing. Apparently it’s not! Which sadly makes me feel better. In 1937 there was a story printed about a sea monster off of the coast of Nantucket. Was it real? Were the people of Nantucket doomed to live in daily fear for their lives? Find out more in my book review of The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story by Darcy Pattison.

Blurb:

“Do you believe everything you read in the newspaper? Early in August 1937, a news flash came: a sea monster had been spotted lurking off the shore of Nantucket Island. Historically, the Massachusetts island had served as port for whaling ships. Eyewitnesses swore this wasn’t a whale, but some new, fearsome creature. As eyewitness account[s] piled up, newspaper stories of the sea monster spread quickly. Across the nation, people shivered in fear.

This nonfiction picture book is a perfect story to start discussions about non-political fake news stories.”

My Book Review:

I haven’t ever heard of this story before! I’m glad that Ms. Pattison has brought it to life for us to learn from. I think the story is well written. It explains the story well and is easy to read and understand. The fact that it’s a nonfiction picture book is great, of course.

The illustrations are a little different, but are bright colored and fun. It does have the feel of an earlier time; say maybe 1937? I think they’re well done, and I like the layout of the pages with the speech bubbles, the big headline font, and the quote boxes.

Reading this book to a class (or family) would be a great way to start a discussion about non-political fake news stories. It offers a safe way to discuss the pros and cons and the whys of fake news stories. I think it would be fun to split the class into two and have one half write real news stories and the other half write fake news stories. Then try to figure out which ones are which. It’d also be fun to have kids create their own sea monsters.

If nothing else, it’s a fun way to get kids interested in reading about history!