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Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks
Even before they're born, baby sharks have to be tough to survive. Some that grow inside their mothers compete with their womb-mates for food, space, and their very lives. Others have to escape as soon as their mothers give birth to avoid becoming her tasty snack. If they survive those rough beginnings, baby sharks then have to figure out how to make it in an ocean teeming with predators. Brilliant color photographs reveal how shark pups grow from tiny eggs into giant eating machines, reaching the top of the food chain in all the world's oceans. Science expert Sandra Markle's introduction to baby sharks provides rare glimpses of these creatures at their most vulnerable and will captivate young fans of nature's toughest creatures.
- GenresPicture BooksAnimals
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2007
About the author
Sandra Markle
293 books95 followersSandra Markle is the author of more than two hundred children's books, which have won numerous awards, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Books for Children, NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended, and ALA Notable Books for Children. She lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and frequently travels to schools sharing her program "Sandra Markle's Books Are REAL Adventures."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 10, 2021
I was definitely expecting to be enlightened by Sandra Markle’s presented text for her 2007 science (ore more to the point specifically biological/zoological) picture book Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks. And certainly, there is indeed much encountered with regard to contents, with regard to the presented factual details of which I was actually unaware until I read Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks.
For while I do know that sharks’ bones are made of cartilage and in fact that much of their physiology is very different from so-called bony fishes, I certainly did not know until Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks that shark eggs, that shark pups unlike most fishes do in fact not develop externally but internally, inside the female sharks’ bodies and that sharks thus kind of give birth to live young (and that although post their birth shark pups are basically entirely on their own, during their development from embryo to when the pups finally pop out, baby sharks are of course thus being taken care of by their mother).
However, my textual enjoyment of Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks and my scientific enlightenment notwithstanding, there is nevertheless and in my opinion something left to be desired both textually and even somewhat illustratively. Because although Sandra Markle obviously appreciates sharks as animals and also makes a point clearly showing that many shark species are endangered, that in fact ALL sharks collectively face much more of a threat from humans than we ever do from sharks, I do find it quite visually problematic and even more than a bit offensive that one of the most prominently featured photograph in Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks is the annoyingly frustrating oh so typical and common close-up of staring shark eyes and a gaping mouth with vicious teeth (kind of like in the movie Jaws and to and for me also buying into sharks supposedly being first and foremost ferocious killers that need to be feared and despised). And furthermore, I also do rather find Sandra Markle’s tone of narration for Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks a bit patronising and paternalistic, leaving me with the impression of not only an educational but also a bit being preached at and sermonised reading experience (and which in addition to Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks not including any bibliographic materials whatsoever makes me consider only a three star ranking, although yes, for a basic introduction to sharks and in particular shark reproduction, I do still recommend Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks).
For while I do know that sharks’ bones are made of cartilage and in fact that much of their physiology is very different from so-called bony fishes, I certainly did not know until Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks that shark eggs, that shark pups unlike most fishes do in fact not develop externally but internally, inside the female sharks’ bodies and that sharks thus kind of give birth to live young (and that although post their birth shark pups are basically entirely on their own, during their development from embryo to when the pups finally pop out, baby sharks are of course thus being taken care of by their mother).
However, my textual enjoyment of Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks and my scientific enlightenment notwithstanding, there is nevertheless and in my opinion something left to be desired both textually and even somewhat illustratively. Because although Sandra Markle obviously appreciates sharks as animals and also makes a point clearly showing that many shark species are endangered, that in fact ALL sharks collectively face much more of a threat from humans than we ever do from sharks, I do find it quite visually problematic and even more than a bit offensive that one of the most prominently featured photograph in Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks is the annoyingly frustrating oh so typical and common close-up of staring shark eyes and a gaping mouth with vicious teeth (kind of like in the movie Jaws and to and for me also buying into sharks supposedly being first and foremost ferocious killers that need to be feared and despised). And furthermore, I also do rather find Sandra Markle’s tone of narration for Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks a bit patronising and paternalistic, leaving me with the impression of not only an educational but also a bit being preached at and sermonised reading experience (and which in addition to Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks not including any bibliographic materials whatsoever makes me consider only a three star ranking, although yes, for a basic introduction to sharks and in particular shark reproduction, I do still recommend Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks).
April 4, 2015
For a kid who loves sharks, this is a great book. Right now, I love sharks. I think about them all the time. I asked my Papa to go to the library and get me as many shark books as he could find. And this is one of them.
September 19, 2014
great book! really liked the history in it,
September 8, 2010
A bit too adult for a 7 year old.
August 16, 2015
Really interesting, detailed book. It was over the head of my shark loving 6 year old, but I finished reading it anyhow. I had no idea the reproductive strategies of sharks were so varied.
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June 6, 2017This book provides information about additional sea animals. In this childrens book, information about how baby sharks live. The book offers multiple picture of different types of sharks. This book about sharks is great to teach students about. I could use this book to teach students that not all sharks are the same and the different types
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews