World Without Fish Book Review

Each year our family goes to Panama City Beach, FL on an annual vacation. Our children have literally grown up going to the beach, enjoying the beauty of the ocean and learning about sea life. As a homeschooling family, we are always on the lookout for unique ways to present educational material. Mark Kurlansky has written a book that is perfect for children who are “scientifically curious” or even for adults to help us understand fish and ocean life.

World Without Fish explains how without sustainable fishing and improved environmental practices, the future of fish and the health of our oceans are bleak. Imagine a planet with orange oceans, toxic seawater and marine life that consists almost solely of jellyfish. This may sound like science fiction but it’s actually a realistic projection of what our world could become if we don’t act now to save the ocean’s fish from extinction. In World Without Fish, Kurlansky connects biology, economics, evolution, politics, climate, history, culture, food and nutrition in a beautiful book that is visually and understandably appealing to both children and adults.

World Without Fish teaches that you should eat fish but only good fish that were caught sustainably. It shows how fish we eat could be extinct in 50 years, the impact of oil spills and pollution on ocean life, the problem with fish farms, the effects of overfishing and climate changes, how evolution is already reversing itself, why jellyfish are known as the “cockroaches” of the sea and much more!

Not only did I enjoy reading this book with our children (ages 5, 7 & 10) but I found myself picking it up to read alone as well. The book is filled with pictures and photographs of actual ocean life and various types of fish that help bring the facts and information contained in the book to life. It has some of the most interesting facts in the book as well and often times I even found myself saying “Wow, I didn’t know that!”. Interwoven throughout the book is an 11 page full color graphic novel. These pages were especially thrilling to our 5 year old and he learned a lot by us reading through just the comic pages of this book with him. Although I am not a big fan of eating fish, this book really opened my eyes to be more aware of the type fish I order when eating at a restaurant. As a Mom, it is important to me that we teach our children about protecting the earth and saving our ecosystems (like fish) because they are the ones who are going to inherit it next. This book would make a beautiful addition to a classroom, school or public library, coffee table book, etc. as everyone regardless of age can benefit from reading World Without Fish.

World Without Fish will be in stores (on and offline) on April 18th!

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help save the fish populations and sustain our oceans, you can purchase World Without Fish on Workman Publishing. It is a hardback book with 192 pages and ISBN: 9780761156079.

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*Gretta received a copy of this book for review. All opinions herein are those of reviewer only.