Book Review: Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks

As promised in a previous post, I am delivering Book Reviews every Monday on Children's Books about science. I think I should have enough books to offer a review each week until the spring.

Here is the first recommendation in the series.

Title: Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks

Author: Sandra Markle

Publisher: Walker Young Readers Books

Markle rarely disappoints. She is an amazing children’s science book author. Her work appeals to students, teachers and scientists alike. This book was one of my personal favorites for the 2007 Animal Behavior Society’s Outstanding Children’s Books Award, but did not make the finalist list. *Sigh* So I am personally endorsing it as OUTSTANDING! Ms. Markle writes in such an engaging style; the text is very easy to read. In fact, I learned A LOT about sharks – their reproductive habits and early life behavior. This is the perfect book for kids (and adults) that love Shark Week! It also includes great photos of different species of sharks and their babies. This book rocks!

B&N Synopsis

Even before they’re born, baby sharks have to be tough to survive. Some that grow inside their mothers compete with their womb-mates for food, space, and their very lives. Others have to escape as soon as their mothers give birth to avoid becoming her tasty snack. If they survive those rough beginnings, baby sharks then have to figure out how to make it in an ocean teeming with predators. Brilliant color photographs reveal how shark pups grow from tiny eggs into giant eating machines, reaching the top of the food chain in all the world’s oceans. Science expert Sandra Markle’s introduction to baby sharks provides rare glimpses of these creatures at their most vulnerable and will captivate young fans of nature’s toughest creatures.