CM Magazine: Sharkabet: A Sea of Sharks from A to Z.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VIII Number 19 . . . . May 24, 2002

cover Sharkabet: A Sea of Sharks from A to Z.
Ray Troll.
Portland, OR: Westwinds Press in association with the American Museum of Natural History
(Distributed in Canada by Whitecap Books), 2002.
40 pp., pbk., & cl., $8.95 (pbk.), $16.95 (cl.)
ISBN 1-55868-519-7 (pbk.), ISBN 1-55868-518-9 (cl.).
Subject Headings:
Sharks-Pictorial works.
English language-Alphabet.

Kindergarten and up / Ages 5 and up.

Review by Catherine Hoyt.

**** /4

exerpt:

GOBLIN SHARKS would look right at home at a Halloween party.

HELICOPRION (hel-eh-co-PRY-on)
ripped into its victims with a lower jaw
shaped like a circular saw. Ouch!

"This alphabet book explores the world of living and extinct sharks and their cartilaginous
cousins."

Author/illustrator Ray Troll covers everything from Angel Sharks to Zebra Sharks. Including phonetic spelling for the harder shark names is a great touch. The author also identifies which species are now believed to be extinct. Troll includes an informative introduction, including the Shark Family Tree. Readers won't want to skip the Amazing Shark Facts section in this book. Did you know that a shark's nose is covered with black holes? You'll find out why if you read this book.

The Shark Field Guide gives the reader valuable information on each of the species mentioned in this book including, AKA - other names, length, range, remarks and status of the shark. A recommended reading list is also added for readers who want to learn more about sharks.

Wonderfully detailed illustrations bring these magnificent creatures to life on the pages of this book. The full-colour art in Sharkabet was rendered using a variety of media including coloured pencils, oil crayons, oil pastels, and airbrushed acrylic paints. Shark enthusiasts will enjoy the wide variety of marine life depicted in this resource. Many of the sharks are illustrated out of the water in a variety of humorous situations. Goblin sharks are eating candy corn, little red devils are peeking over the waves at Japanese Devilrays and Nurse sharks are in the hospital. Some of the unusual species shown are sure to be new to readers.

Sharkabet is an excellent choice to introduce a large variety of sharks to readers. However, Sharkabet is not a book I would use to teach a child the alphabet. A good alphabet book allows the reader to clearly identify easily recognizable objects representing letters of the alphabet. Sharkabet will really appeal to young boys who tend to be shark lovers. This is a book that will have a guaranteed audience. Public and school libraries should consider adding this informative book to their non-fiction collections even if they already have a good selection of books about sharks.

Highly recommended.

As the result of an exciting move, Catherine Hoyt is now the Reference Librarian at the Nunavut Legislative Library in Iqaluit, Nunavut. However, she enjoys volunteering at the local public library in the newest capital in Canada.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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