The Salmon of Knowledge

This retelling of a classic Irish legend involving a fish, a poet, and an aspiring warrior may struggle to hook readers. A salmon eats nine hazelnuts that fall into a magical well, and anyone who eats the salmon will “gain all the knowledge and secrets of the world.” Finnegas the poet spends his life trying to catch the enchanted fish. When he finally succeeds, he is accidentally thwarted by his young apprentice, Fionn, who burns his thumb on the cooking fish and then sucks on it, gaining all the knowledge and leaving Finnegas with an ordinary fish dinner. Certain details charm—warriors must “be taught by an elderly poet” and “learn twelve books of poetry off by heart”—but the ending is somewhat anticlimactic, and the collaged illustrations underwhelm. Ages 5–7. [em](Apr.) [/em]