Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
3rd out of 28 books
—
7 voters
Surprising Sharks (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards))
Why does a swell shark blow up like a party balloon? What does a lantern shark use its built-in lights for? Full of fun facts, here’s a surprising book about sharks that kids can really get their teeth into.
"SHAAAARRRKK!" That’s probably the last word anyone wants to hear while swimming in the warm blue sea. But most sharks aren’t at all what people expect. In fact, those...more
"SHAAAARRRKK!" That’s probably the last word anyone wants to hear while swimming in the warm blue sea. But most sharks aren’t at all what people expect. In fact, those...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
July 14th 2003
by Candlewick
(first published 2003)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
142)
Nov 05, 2011
Jessie Bear
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
ages-6-8,
animals,
marine-life,
non-fiction,
picture-book,
sharks,
si-624,
horn-book-honor,
science
Surprising Sharks challenges popular assumptions about sharks while illuminating the ways in which sharks are different, as well as how they are the same. The text briefly introduces the reader to a variety of sharks, such as a goblin shark or an angel shark, with an index to ease locating relevant text. Font size varies, with larger fonts carrying main concepts and smaller fonts full of more detailed facts. Two spreads of shark diagrams break up the rest of the text, with important and well dis...more
The title of this book is "Surprising Sharks" by Nicola Davies and illustrated by James Croft. Previously a zoologist, Davies knows all there is about animals. According to the "about the author" page, Nicola Davies has spent time diving with sharks, getting to know them personally.
This book is all about sharks. Throughout the book, the reader is introduced to a the physical features of sharks, different types of sharks, where sharks live and things they like to eat. The illustrations are meant...more
This book is all about sharks. Throughout the book, the reader is introduced to a the physical features of sharks, different types of sharks, where sharks live and things they like to eat. The illustrations are meant...more
Written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by James Croft, the work is a science text, storybook and environmental lesson all-in-one. Davies doesn't shy around the fact sharks are killers and humans are sometimes their prey but instead, turns this into a lesson about how we can educate ourselves about sharks. Any words too terrifying for little ones, such as "killer" or "bone-crunching" can easily be skipped.
The pages' fonts vary in size, and the illustrations are bright and colorful, making it ex...more
The pages' fonts vary in size, and the illustrations are bright and colorful, making it ex...more
It is commonly stated that boys like nonfiction. They love trivia such as what appears in the annual editions of the Guinness Book of Records and Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. They will study sports stats and videogame manuals. And if it's the right topic, they will read a book cover to cover on a single subject. Dinosaurs, monster trucks, animal feces...almost irresistible. Same for sharks. But the typical shark book entices readers with an open-mouthed Great White on the cover or, at the very...more
Age:
Grades K-4
Genre:
non-fiction
Diversity:
Shark variety/diversity
Illustrations:
The illustrations are created with acrylic and pastel.
Personal response:
The book is great to teach children about the variety of sharks in the water. It provides brief facts about all the different sharks mentioned in the book. It is illustrated in a cute and fun manner which makes it entertaining for children. It reads like a regular picture book instead of a non-fiction book crammed full of information.
Curricular or...more
Grades K-4
Genre:
non-fiction
Diversity:
Shark variety/diversity
Illustrations:
The illustrations are created with acrylic and pastel.
Personal response:
The book is great to teach children about the variety of sharks in the water. It provides brief facts about all the different sharks mentioned in the book. It is illustrated in a cute and fun manner which makes it entertaining for children. It reads like a regular picture book instead of a non-fiction book crammed full of information.
Curricular or...more
Published by the same company as Sea Horse by Christine Butterworth, Surprising Sharks has several similarities but some differences as well. Like Sea Horse, Surprising Sharks uses two sizes of text to denote the main story line which can be used for read-alouds and the sidenotes which provide additional material for information seekers. Both titles include simple indexes, but where Sea Horse focused on just one of the many sea horse species, Surprising Sharks covers many different species of sh...more
What a fun voice! Informative text in a variety of text types--and essentially set up as a reversal: "You see, MOST sharks are not at all what you might expect. After all, who would expect a shark to have built-in fairy lights. . . or blow up like a party balloon. . . or lie on the sea florr like a scrap of old carpet. . . "
Would buy.
A wonderful non-fiction read for preschoolers, full of fascintating facts about sharks (small sharks, large sharks, swell sharks). As typical for Candlewick Press, the books illustrations are fun, colorful, and pleasure to look at.
Layers of text make this book appealing to older children also.
A wonderful non-fiction read for preschoolers, full of fascintating facts about sharks (small sharks, large sharks, swell sharks). As typical for Candlewick Press, the books illustrations are fun, colorful, and pleasure to look at.
Layers of text make this book appealing to older children also.
Feb 09, 2013
Laura
added it
What a great nonfiction picture book! I loved the conversational style, the facts, and artwork. I also appreciated that additional resources were recommended at the end of the book. Great for younger elementary school students and a good resources for research reports too.
Awesome!!! My 2nd grade is fascinated by by sharks and sea creatures. They loved this book. This book is filled with lots of interesting facts about sharks. The illustrations are bright and colorful. Great for a read a loud.
Great illustrations, informative, and fun. Love the way that it aims to dispel the fear around sharks and show they are not all bad man eating killers. There is also a lesson in there about humans killing sharks.
My son who read a number of books about sharks found this book to be amazing because he learned facts about sharks that he has not read about before.
A cross between an information book about sharks and a little narrative. Lots of illustrations with facts and figures for those fascinated by sharks.
This book drew me in with the interesting page layout and awesome descriptions of animals. This book will enhance students interest in the subject and allow them to gather information from somewhere beside the text book. Students seem to enjoy learning from literature much more than flipping through a giant book.
This is a really cute and informational book on sharks that kids can read to themselves or have read to them by a teacher. There are interesting facts written in smaller font throughout the pages so the reader can choose if he or she wants to read all of the facts. It's also very funny and the sharks are all drawn as cartoons. In my field placement I read this to a student, mostly focusing on the facts which are a little harder, as he read the general plot to me. It is definitely a good book to...more
This is the book that started an all-out obsession for my 5yo. A very cool book!
Jan 02, 2013
Daniel
added it
ttrtr
It has proved kinda difficult to find books about sharks that are not totally dry and boring for my shark loving 5 year old. This book is one of the best we have found. The writing is fun, the illustrations are interesting, the text is written in varying sizes and styles. Over all it is just a fun yet factual book about sharks.
I thought I knew a lot about sharks but I learned so many new facts about different types of sharks. Love the endpapers that deliver more shark information. The design of the book is wonderful and will make shark experts of the children who read it!
Lots of interesting facts about sharks, for the shark-loving kid. It is especially interesting what humans do with sharks. Illustrations go nicely with the text.
I learned quite a bit. Definitely written by a shark lover.
Jun 09, 2013
Allison
marked it as to-read
Jun 09, 2013
Alex
marked it as to-read
Jun 08, 2013
Sophie
marked it as to-read
Jun 12, 2013
Vondria Francis-paloade
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
default
May 23, 2013
Sendra Kerherve
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Roberto Coronado
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2013
David Su
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
"I was very small when I saw my first dolphin," says zoologist Nicola Davies, recalling a seminal visit with her father to a dolphin show at the zoo. Enchanted at the sight of what she called the "big fish" jumping so high and swimming so fast, she determined right then that she would meet the amazing creatures again "in the wild, where they belonged." And indeed she did--as part of a pair of scie...more
More about Nicola Davies...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
