In this children's story written in the 1890s, the youngsters of Murray Home will have Murray Cod for breakfast - the 12 pound fish '...was a big fish for the boy to land by himself, though small compared with the great monsters of fifty and sixty pounds which are frequently found in the River Murray.'

Murray Cod was the most common of the larger native fish in the Murray-Darling system at the time of European settlement. Today Murray cod in the wild are massively reduced in numbers, with Cod now rare in the majority of its original habitats due to many factors including the condition of the river, introduced species, river regulation, and overfishing.

Author Ella Chaffey was the wife of Charles Chaffey who came from Canada to South Australia in 1888 to manage his brothers' property at Renmark. Renmark is supposedly the town depicted in the book. The couple returned to Canada (at an unspecified date) where Ella wrote other children's books. AJ Johnson was an English illustrator, who also illustrated Ethel Turner's early books including Seven Little Australians.