Nine True Dolphin Stories

by Margaret Davidson

Opo gave children rides on her back; Spray was the first dolphin born in a tank; Doris and Buzz talked to each other; and Tuffy was trained to save lives. Readers meet these fascinating creatures and others while learning how dolphins survive, how scientists study them and more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens, Picture Books, Science, Chapter Books

Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Margaret Davidson grew up in New York City. As a child, she always loved to read.

She initially published books under her nickname and maiden name of Mickie Compere and also as Mickie Davidson

She has written many biographies, true stories about people's lives. Some famous people she has written biographies about are Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Golda Meir.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like dolphins, so that's why I don't like this book. It was written in an era when captivity, training, experimentation, and other abuses were seen as good and admirable. Ugh.

Oh, and if you or your child is sensitive to such things, a couple of the dolphins die, perhaps even killed by humans.



FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• The story of Pelorus Jack, the faithful dolphin
• The story of Opo, the dolphin who loved people
• The story of Spray, the first dolphin born in a tank
• The story of Pauline, the dolphin who almost died of loneliness
• The story of Bimbo, the big bully
• The story of Flippy, the first trained dolphin
• The story of Doris and Buzz, the dolphins who talked to each other
• The story of Zippy, the blindfolded dolphin
• The story of Tuffy, the dolphin who was trained to save lives

[Emmie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. It was very dry. The grammar wasn't necessarily improper, but it was weird. The stories were interesting, though!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books from when I was a kid. It made me realize how intelligent and extraordinary animals are, and how they're actually not that different from us.....dolphins even punish their young for not behaving!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

1970s Scholastic Books purchase at school... I was in 3rd or 4th grade. This was a wonderful paperback chapter book, with nine true stories about dolphins interacting with humans, and sometimes rescuing them. It was written like fiction, so there was the entertainment factor, as well as the educational information. I remember the illustrations as being not numerous, but fancifully-drawn and creatively colored (pastel dolphins!). Like any child fascinated with dolphins, I read this book multiple times, and treasured it.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how this book ended up in my house, but I'm glad it did. I am in grad school to becoming a reading teacher. Several of the texts I have read have advocated the need for younger readers to read more nonfiction. When I found this book in a box of random junk I thought we'd give it a try as our next bedtime book.

The kids really liked it. The first two stories are a little sad, but once we got past those they really loved the book. It was very interesting to see how their reactions and interpretations of nonfiction differed from their reactions to fiction.

[Lea Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely collection of true dolphin stories! This was an eye opener about how the relationship between dolphins and humans has developed since the beginning of doplohin study. This book made us laugh and tear up. We were happy to have picked this up from a local sale to enjoy on our personal bookshelf.

My 7 yr old says: This book brought out a lot of emotions and helps readers know how amazing dolphins are. This was a good book. We loved it.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of the first dolphins kept in captivity and their trainers.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

James thought it was really cool that the stories were true and that dolphins could do things like save people’s lives and give people short rides.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book about amazing animals

[Warren Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books growing up as a kid. It helped instill my love of reading, especially true stories!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I can ever remember reading. It is a non-fiction book about dolphins. I seem to recall stories about dolphins that get bored and/or lonely really quickly in captivity and sink to the bottom of the tank, so the trainers always had to come up with new tricks for them. There's a bunch of other stories too. I would highly recommend this book for any youngster that loves animals.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit depressing, most of the dolphins so far die or disappear. The stories don't really make up for the tragic endings...I'll write more when we read through more of the stories. I hope the rest are less tragic. The others were okay. Not enough education benefit though in my opinion. This will be leaving our home.

[Lydia Moses · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows how incredible animals can be. This was one of my favorite books as a kid and I hope to keep this in my classroom library.

[Margret Melissa (ladybug) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several true stories of Dolphins and how intelligent they are. It is an easy chapter book that I think children would really enjoy.