A Riddle of Eels

A sweeping, slippery ode to a mysterious creature that has baffled scientists and philosophers for centuries—the eel—from the author of the Sibert Medal winner The Mona Lisa Vanishes and the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor book Mel Fell.

★ "A springboard to a big and stimulating idea . . . that all we do know and have learned about our ‘vast, wondrous’ world can blind us to how very much remains for us to discover."—Booklist, starred review

You’d think a book about eels would tell you everything you need to know about eels: where they’re born, how they grow, where they live, where they die. But the truth is far stranger: the more we think we know about eels, the more the mysterious creature wriggles away, leaving even experts scratching their heads.

And maybe this book tells you a few things about eels. We know, for instance, that they are fish even though they look like snakes. But how can we ever know if we’ve got the complete picture on anything? Why are we so certain of our knowledge...till we’re not?

With humor and expressive, bright illustrations, this book blends science and history to illuminate a real-life mystery that has puzzled great minds from Aristotle to Freud. Perfect for inquisitive readers and fans of weird-but-true stories, here is a celebration of curiosity and the unknown by a Sibert Medalist and a Caldecott Honoree—it reminds us that some questions are more magical when they don’t have simple answers.

NICHOLAS DAY is the author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction. He is also the author of the picture book Nothing, which received three starred reviews, and the adult narrative nonfiction title, Baby Meets World. He has written regularly for Slate; his work has also appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his family.

COREY R. TABOR is the author/illustrator of Mel Fell, a Caldecott Honor recipient, and the winner of the first Barnes & Noble annual picture book award. He is also the creator of the Fox early reader and picture book series, which has garnered two Geisel Medals (Fox the Tiger and Fox Is Late). He is also the creator of the graphic novel series Sir Ladybug (about a ladybug knight who is heroic but shy).