Green, Sara. Blacktip Reef Shark.

Green, Sara.  Blacktip Reef Shark.  Scholastic Press  2013  24p  $22.95 ISBN 978-0-531-24078-6  elem  series: Shark Fact Files       VG-BNes    

This is a great little easy-to-read book for kids who are into marine science.  The blacktip reef shark is described, pictured with brilliant underwater photographs, and discussed.  Kids will learn what the fish eat, how they capture their prey, how they give birth, what they look like, how their teeth work, and what behaviors they exhibit, as well as the fact that they are on the “near threatened” list.  There is a good glossary, an index, and a brief list of web sites and children’s books where one can learn more.  The large type, beautiful illustrations, and short length of the book will appeal to kids and lend the book to classroom use and discussion.

The factsurfer web site listed at the end of the book provides access to a number of web sites about sharks.      Shark Fact Files is a series that includes books about the blue shark, the bull shark, the frilled shark, and nine other kinds of sharks.    

Sharks                                                            --Carol Kennedy

Green, Sara. Goblin Shark.

Green, Sara.  Goblin Shark.  Scholastic Press   2013 24p  $22.95  ISBN 978-0-531-24081-6        elm/ms  series: Shark Fact Files  VG  

Readers will be intrigued by Goblin Shark.  Little is known about this mysterious, elusive pink fish.  Goblin sharks live so deep in the ocean that they have managed to keep their secrets, as only a few people have ever seen this rare shark in its natural habitat. Scientists do not believe the goblin shark population to be threatened, but little concrete information about these creatures is known.

So, while scientists know that the goblin shark protrudes its jaws when it bites prey and the jaws disappear underneath the shark’s elongated nose until the next attack, they speculate that the sharks feed on squids, small fish, and crabs.  This unique species occupies a habitat deep along the continental shelf of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.  Their livers (which provide buoyancy) can make up 25% of their body mass.  But no-one has ever seen goblin sharks reproduce.  Scientists can only make educated guesses about how large the sharks may grow, or how fast/sluggishly they swim, or even how acute the sharks’ senses are.  The species has been nick-named the “living fossil.”

Author Sara Green provides the facts, and clearly identifies what is speculation about goblin sharks (also known as elfin sharks).  The brief volume is rounded out by a a short index, glossary, and suggested reading list.

Sharks                                                      -–Hilary Welliver

Green, Sara. Hammerhead Shark.

Green, Sara.  Hammerhead Shark.  Scholastic Press     2013  24p   $17.26  ISBN 978-0-531-24082-3      elem  series: Shark Fact Files VG   

Elementary students who enjoy learning about sharks will appreciate this new title on the hammerhead shark.  The author provides readers with information on the hammerhead’s identification and physical characteristics, including body parts, skin, teeth, and species.  Information on the shark’s migration, birthing process, and survival are touched upon.  The author addresses the current status of hammerhead sharks; since the hammerhead shark population is shrinking, two species (scalloped  and great hammerhead) have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The book includes beautiful color illustrations, maps, interesting facts scattered throughout, an easy-to-comprehend text, a list of recommended books and web sites, and an index. 

For schools that use Accelerated Reader, there is already a test, AR Quiz # 157155.  Each title in this series focuses on a different shark.  From the gentle whale shark to the vicious great white, sharks vary greatly from one species to the next.  Twelve different titles have been published as of this review.   

Sharks                                                                                                --Charleen Forba-Mayer