Hark! a Shark!

July 1, 2013

Gr 2-4-Twisted sentence structure, tongue twisters, forced rhyme scheme, and lack of a consistent cadence make this offering a difficult read-aloud. "See this wonderful boat bobbing here on the water?/It's my Super-Stupendous Shipshape Shark Spotter" is one of the better-scanning lines, but still is a clunky read. Written at an almost fourth-grade reading level and illustrated in a cartoon style, the book's intended audience is unclear. Older students would be better served by reading a nonfiction text about sharks, many of which are listed in the back matter, including David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes's Face to Face With Sharks (National Geographic, 2009). Readers should skip right to these additional resources. Buy only where the TV show is popular.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

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