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Shocking Seafood

Name: Shocking Seafood
Author: Dinah Williams
ISBN: 9781597167611

by Dinah Williams

Publisher: Bearport Publishing Company, Incorporated
Pages: 24
Library Binding
ISBN: 9781597167611

Available to Buy

Overview of Shocking Seafood

Are you in the mood for seafood? How about starting with fish head soup? Or maybe you'd prefer some raw octopus arms. They're so fresh that you can still feel them wiggling in your mouth. If you're really brave you can try some pufferfish. Be careful, however. If it's not prepared properly it can kill you!

Synopsis of Shocking Seafood

Children's Literature

This is a high-interest book that low (reading) level students will not be embarrassed to check out of a school library. They will, in fact, attract classmates' attention as they flip to pictures of unfamiliar seafood cuisine that might be considered disgusting. Nine exotic dishes are pictured and described with such enticing vocabulary as "dangerous, jiggly, stinky, and squirming," adjectives designed to keep one reading. Besides noting the seafoods' countries of origin, a world map pinpoints exact locations, and addition of an online link yields four reference sites and a themed crossword puzzle. Initial concerns that readers might be self-righteous about their own cuisines were quelled with the back-cover observation that "One eater's ?yuck!' is another eater's ?yum!'" Editing demands the addition of a trademark symbol for a mentioned gelatin product and for a clearer font for the picture labels. While the superimposed clip art looks a bit amateurish, the subject matter and approach of this offering will yield many young nonfiction fans. Reviewer: Maureen Riley

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Maureen Riley

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6

From "Stir-Fried Silkworms" (eaten in Suzhou, China) to "Dragonflies on a Stick" (eaten on Bali), the nine dishes in each of these titles will be unfamiliar to most children. Each one is covered on a spread, with descriptions opposite glossy, somewhat garish color photos. The texts are written in a conversational tone (Seafood describes how "When pulled out of the River Thames in London, long snake-shaped eels hardly look like dinner"). Readers will discover some intriguing facts, e.g., cheese maggots, eaten on Sardinia, should be consumed while wearing eye protection because the wiggling creatures can jump up to six inches. A map at the end of each book shows where the foods are eaten. Most are in Asian or African countries, although the U.S. is represented by waxworm salad (eaten at the annual "BugFest" in Raleigh, NC), cricket lick-its (lollipops with crickets inside), and a few other concoctions. While these titles are long on child appeal, they suffer from a somewhat superficial approach, as the "whys" (sociological, historical, geographical, etc.) behind the dishes are absent. Libraries that already own James Solheim's It's Disgusting and We Ate It (S & S, 1998) can stick with that title. But where patrons enjoy grossing each other out, consider these books.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL