Sharks: Biggest! Littlest!

by Sandra Markle, Doug Perrine (Photographer)

Overview

Discover the amazing survival skills of the sea's most fearsome predators. Here are thirteen of the world's most amazing meat eaters of the sea —from the all-time favorite, the great white, to the chilling little cookie-cutter shark. One is huge. Another is small. One has a giant snout or tail or head. Another has tiny horns or little skin flaps. Readers will learn how each of these traits—big or little—helps a particular type of shark survive in the fish-eat-fish world of the sea. Sandra Markle teams up with world-renowned marine-life photographer Doug Perrine to give young readers an entertaining, exciting introduction to sharks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590788738
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	03/01/2011
Series:	Biggest! Littlest!
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.16(d)
Lexile:	NC890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Laurence Pringle is the recipient of several major awards for his body of work, including the Eva L. Gordon Award for Children's Science Literature. He lives in West Nyack, New York.

Meryl Henderson has illustrated numerous books for children, including many in the Strange and Wonderful series. She lives in upstate New York.

Editorial Reviews

"Just the right amount of detail for the intended audience. . . . Concludes with a full-color world map pinpointing the location of each shark mentioned in the text, a brief glossary, and a list of age-appropriate resources to find more information." —Booklist

"As with all the best nonfiction for the very young, the vivid photographs and high-interest text will spark many youthful imaginations. (glossary, lost of book and Internet resources)" —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Gr 3-4

This is a much simpler, more general work than Markle's Outside and Inside Sharks (S & S, 1996). Excellent color photos follow the clear text, which describes "big" and "little" sharks and the physical oddities of such disparate species as Ornate Wobbegongs, Longnose Sawsharks, and Great Whites. A descriptive passage on teeth and another on denticles are included. Also shown is the hatching of an egg-laying Swell Shark and the live birth of a Lemon Shark. A global distribution map of species mentioned is provided. Team this book with Laurence Pringle's handsome Sharks!: Strange and Wonderful (Boyds Mills, 2001) and Miranda MacQuitty's Shark (DK, 2008) for a fresh look at a fish with a fascinating family tree.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

Using the widely varying sizes of different types of sharks as a starting point, simple text and striking photographs convey their remarkable diversity. In this addition to the Biggest! Littlest! series, the half- and full-page color photographs are each paired with four to eight sentences of simple and informative text displayed on a bright white background. Twelve different types of sharks are shown and briefly described. Although the media-magnet great white and hammerhead are here, many less frequently covered sharks are also described, including the ornate wobbegong, the cookie-cutter (along with a picture of a victim, missing a cookie-cutter-shaped piece of flesh) and the spined pygmy. A color map provides additional information on where the photographs were taken, rather than the ranges of the sharks themselves, an interesting detail. As with all the best nonfiction for the very young, the vivid photographs and high-interest text will spark many youthful imaginations. (glossary, list of book and Internet resources) (Nonfiction. 4 & up)

Kirkus Reviews