From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-The major premise of this book is that sharks vary greatly in size and shape. The front and back endpapers capture the dwarf lantern shark at just 6 inches in length, the whale shark measuring more than 39 feet, and many other species between these extremes. Although in some cases the colorful acrylic-and-pastel pictures show slightly anthropomorphized creatures, readers can glean their basic anatomical features. Varying print size emphasizes concepts and creates drama and aesthetic interest. The text highlights unusual features of lesser-known sharks, and two spreads show internal and external similarities among all sharks. The book is chock-full of fascinating information about "sharkish" behavior, which for only 3 of the 500 types of sharks includes attacking humans with any regularity. Davies concludes with a notion that these animals have much more to fear from humans than vice versa. Although many of today's young shark enthusiasts insist on full-color photographs, the attractiveness of the typefaces, the anatomical diagrams, and the interesting facts presented here should help this title make a splash.Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 3. Davies manages to impart a remarkable amount of information about sharks in this picture-book science volume, which emphasizes that sharks come in a variety of shapes and sizes and most are not dangerous. What's more, Croft's bright, humorous artwork (including a great picture of the Australian wobbegong shark sneaking up on a pair of smiling crabs) and the clever layout will make this a first choice for many young children. The double-page spread diagrams showing labeled parts of the shark, inside and outside, are also especially nice. The main text appears in good-size display type, with added tidbits placed around the pages in smaller print. Solid nonfiction on a popular subject for a young age group. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

ANNOTATION

Introduces many different species of sharks, pointing out such characteristics as the small size of the dwarf lantern shark and the physical characteristics and behavior that makes sharks killing machines.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Introduces many different species of sharks, pointing out such characteristics as the small size of the dwarf lantern shark and the physical characteristics and behavior that makes sharks killing machines.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Mary Quattlebaum

What is it about little kids and big critter teeth? Zoologist-author Nicola Davies understands the thrills and chills inspired by denizens of the deep. In Surprising Sharks, she plays with the stereotype of sharks as giant man-killers. Instead of the great white, kids first meet the dwarf lantern shark, which is "just bigger than a chocolate bar." Sharks, writes Davies, "are not at all what you might expect." Black lantern sharks have light-making organs on their tummies, swell sharks puff up to protect themselves from predators and the small cookie-cutter shark sports a whimsical name and shape. This playful text, complemented nicely by James Croft's bright illustrations, shows how sharks breathe, hunt and have babies. It also provides a startling statistic: "every year people kill 100 million sharks." The seas are fast losing these mighty swimmers so important to Earth's ecosystem for 300 million years. 2003, Candlewick, Ages 3 to 7.

School Library Journal

Complete, factual, and fun, this book also sets the record straight on the number of man-eating shark species versus the number of sharks killed by humans. Reports on individual shark species would be a good addition for older students. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews