Thar She Blows! Whaling in the 1860's (Smithsonian Odyssey)

It has been said about this book that "if you want to teach your children to be utterly indifferent to the suffering of non-human beings, this would be a good book for you." What narrow-minded, politically-correct, thought-police drivel! This book only tries to tell children about the golden age of 19th century whaling by placing them within that era. The people of those times hunted whales out of necessity (the need for whale oil for lamps), not because they were somehow morally deficient. Whalemen of those days were very much aware that "whales (were) highly intelligent, social creatures"... if you doubt this then read Moby Dick. This book is a good introduction for children about those times and nothing more.