Peter Vogt

The Monster Shark's Tooth Peter Vogt

An Arizona boy named Johann visits his grandparents who live along the Chesapeake Bay. Johann and his grandfather- a brilliant scientist known in the family as Grumpa-go canoeing on the Bay. Johann is thrilled to see rays, menhaden, striped bass, jellyfish, kingfishers, and other interesting things. Tired after his long flight, the boy falls asleep in the canoe but Grumpa keeps paddling. Along the Calvert Cliff, the entrance to a cave seems to be exposed. Grumpa paddles the canoe through a tunnel into the ocean as it was 15 million years ago, in the Miocene epoch. Did Grumpa turn his canoe into a time machine or is Johann dreaming? Johann is excited to see a giant toothed bird, a megalodon shark, and a whale mom and calf. The duo canoe to a nearby beach and have more adventures, encountering a red panda, two bear dogs, a gomphothere, and a crocodilian. They barely survive two terrifying encounters with a giant Megalodon but make it back home. After Grumpa turns the canoe over on their beach to empty out water and sand, Johann notices a long deep gash in the bottom of the canoe, and a giant megalodon tooth falls out, perhaps broken off by the shark as it bit into the canoe.