Customer Reviews

Sharks: Biggest! Littlest!

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I am a school librarian in Ankeny, Iowa. I had around 100 1st graders read a group of 25 books published within the last year. This book was voted number two! Marveltown by Bruce McCall was number one - another boy favorite.

Some are super-sized and we're not talking about a burger and fries here. There are sharks like the Basking Shark that "can be as long as 32 feet." But then on the other end of the spectrum there is the Spined Pygmy shark that is "shorter than a sheet of notebook paper." That is quite a contrast in size for a species! The largest shark is a Whale Shark that is as long as a truck, or about 45 feet. Now that is one critter I don't think many of us would care to encounter. Oddly enough, these two huge sharks only eat small fish and plankton. Scientists think that part of their survival mechanism concerns the size of their body. If there is not food to be had, they can live on their body resources.

This book talks about many different kinds of sharks including the Great White Shark, the Cookie-Cutter Shark, the Thresher Shark, the Longnose Sawshark, the Hammerhead Shark, the Ornate Wobbegong Shark, the Port Jackson Horned Shark, the Swell Shark and the Lemon Shark. Each one is very unique and you'll learn many things about them. You'll learn about how they eat, the type of prey they go after, how they hunt, their size, the body parts, their teeth (WOW!), how they can camouflage themselves, their denticles (protective armor) and you'll see how some of them are born.

This is a very well researched and fascinating book to read. If you thought there were only a few different types of sharks you will be amazed at the variety in this book. There are numerous, stunning full color photographs and interesting sidebars scattered throughout the text. In the back of the book there is a world wide map showing where each shark lives, "shark words," and additional recommended book and website resources. Do you know which shark "gulps in seawater and swells to nearly twice its size" to avoid being eaten? If not, you just might want to read this marvelous book!