Whale Sharks

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4 Because shark books abound, new additions to any collection must be superb. Unfortunately, these are not. The format could be very useful; each volume covers one shark with half pages of text and full-page color illustrations. But the writing is pedestrian, and no new information is introduced in an area of continuing scientific research and discovery. In Joanna Cole's Hungry, Hungry Sharks (Random, 1986), the evolution of sharks and their habits is introduced in a cohesive, nicely illustrated, and simple way. Kate Petty's Sharks (Watts, 1985), for slightly older readers, describes sharks in their habitat using lovely underwater illustrations. Gilda Berger's Sharks (Doubleday, 1987) tells the basics but zeros in on specific details in an easy-to-understand text accompanied by artistic, scientific illustrations. Any of these three is a better choice to introduce young, beginning readers to the deliciously scary world of the shark. There's no reason for beginning science books to be boring, and it's inexcusable not to include exciting new discoveries. Frances E. Millhouser, Arlington County Department of Libraries, Va.