Sharks! Sharks! Sharks!

Susan Martineau is an award-winning and very experienced author of non-fiction and information books for children, and the experience shows in Sharks! Sharks! Sharks! With bright, attractive illustrations by Martineau’s frequent collaborator Vicky Barker, it’s eye-catching enough to attract the eye of passing shark-interested young readers and provides a scattering of fascinating facts to facilitate browsing, but will likely be read from beginning to end, and then beginning to end again. There’s plenty of real science from the opening spread, which explains What is a shark? with a cross-section diagram, close ups on shark skin with accompanying illustration, and description of the workings of shark gills, to the final Do sharks have friends? which introduces the different types of fish that live in, on or near sharks. The book emphasises throughout how many different types of sharks there are and how their colouring, shape of their mouths etc are defined by habitat. A spread called Sharks in the past reminds us of how long they’ve been around in the oceans and provides a life size image of a Megalodon tooth. Wide-ranging in the information covered, stimulating in its approach and carefully presented, this is an excellent information book and stands out even in the crowded shark books field.