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Informationen zum Autor Ben Hubbard; Illustrated by Robert Squier Klappentext "Sea monsters have a long history in lore and literature. Homer first wrote of them in 700 BCE. What Do We Know About the Kraken? lets curious young readers explore what we actually know about this mysterious sea monster's long history. Dive into the facts behind this massive squid-like creature that was first described using the word "Kraken" in the beginning of the eighteenth century. For centuries, sailors have feared the Kraken, which they believe lurks in the ocean, waiting to pull ships beneath the surface with its powerful tentacles. Several famous writers such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Jules Verne have described monsters inspired by the Kraken. In this book, readers will also learn about the real creature that might have inspired the Kraken -- the giant squid"-- Leseprobe What Do We Know About the Kraken? One October morning in 1873, two fishermen spotted something strange floating in the cold gray waters of Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. The object looked big, like a lost sail or part of a shipwreck. But as the fishermen rowed their small boat closer, they found it to be something quite different. It was a mass, dark red in color, and quivering like a giant mound of Jell-O. One of the fishermen, Theophilus Picot, picked up a long pole and poked at the large heap. Suddenly, it sprang to life. The men had disturbed a huge sea creature and it was now attacking them. The animal rose up from the water and rammed the boat with its sharp beak. As the men tried to steady themselves, two tentacles (long, thin armlike limbs) shot into the air and then twined around the boat. The tentacles were powerful and covered with round suckers. It was clear that the creature was trying to pull the boat under the water. Reacting quickly, Picot grabbed a hatchet and began to hack at the tentacles. Although they were as big around as his arm, Picot completely severed the two tentacles. A thick, black fluid spewed from the creature and darkened the water around the boat. The mysterious animal slid back into the water and began to swim away. After a few moments, it slipped beneath the surface, leaving a black stream behind it. It was not seen again. The two men returned to port with one of the greatest fishing stories of all time. And to prove what had happened was true, they brought with them a nineteen-foot-long tentacle! Unfortunately, the other captured tentacle had begun to stink so badly that the fishermen had complained and thrown it overboard. But what kind of creature had the tentacles belonged to? Could this be the same animal that sailors had been describing for thousands of years: a massive, multiarmed monster that lurked deep beneath the surface and rose without warning to take down entire ships and their crews? Had the Newfoundland fishermen just come face-to-face with the legendary creature known as the “Kraken”? Chapter 1: The Ancient Kraken It seems as if people have been scared of sea monsters since human history began. From the moment we set foot in the water, we could see it was full of strange creatures that we knew nothing about. Man-eating sharks, venomous stingrays, and slithering sea snakes were some of the dangerous animals that sometimes came close to the shore. Fishermen in boats told stories about even larger, lesser-known creatures. In the ancient world, sailors aboard oceangoing ships reported massive beasts seen in the wide-open waters. Some of these were described as large enough to sink large ships. Thousands of years ago, stories about such creatures were repeated as songs and poems for entertainment. This is known as an oral history. But sea monsters even appeared in one of the world’s first written poems, the Odyssey, around 700 BCE. The Odyssey was ...
