The Legend of Elinea

PreS-Gr 2—This tale tells of an "ancient legend" (no source note is provided) about a sea goddess who guards the oceans. When an island inhabited by peaceful fishermen is threatened by pirates/poachers who deplete their food supply, Elinea is angered and lashes out. In her wild fury, however, she loses her magical trident and is captured by the pirates, who plan to auction her off. Fortunately, an island boy rescues her trident, which restores her powers and allows her to drive off the intruders. An author's note briefly touches on the issue of overfishing and suggests that readers consult Greenpeace for more information. This confusing, didactic tale is poorly translated and rife with typos and grammatical errors. The page design is so sloppy that the text is hardly legible on some pages, and the illustrations are amateurish. For a more compelling ecological title, recommend Laura Vaccaro Seeger's Green (Roaring Brook, 2012).—Rachael Vilmar, Easter Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD