Shark in the Park!

Timothy Pope goes to the park and looks through his telescope. No matter where he looks, he thinks that he sees sharks. Sharratt’s use of die-cut components is very clever, akin to his Don’t Put Your Finger in the Jelly, Nelly. The bold cartoon illustrations use a two-dimensional plane that perfectly accentuates critical aspects of the images. There’s much to look at, so it requires more than one reading to get the most out of it.

Sharratt’s rhythm scheme is akin to Julia Donaldson’s work in pace and cleverness. Importantly, there is just the right amount of repetition of text. Shark in the Park! contains the kind of humour that preschoolers find so very funny, including in-jokes between reader and author. The shark itself is a bit scary, but only enough to be exciting. All in all, Shark in the Park! is jolly good fun.