Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Misunderstood Shark

Misunderstood Shark. Ame Dyckman. Illustrated by Scott Magoon. 2018. Scholastic. 48 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Hello, people! Today on Underwater World with Bob, Fun Facts about--" SHARK!

Premise/plot: Bob, the narrator--both of this book and of Underwater World--shares a LOT of facts about sharks in this new picture book. Will readers believe Bob's facts and intuition OR shark's own spin of what is really happening?!?!
"Shark! The people are watching! Don't eat that fish in front of the people!"
"The PEOPLE can see me?"
"You misunderstood!! I wasn't going to eat him. I was just...showing him my new tooth!"
"Fun fact about that! Sharks can grow and lose 30,000 teeth in their lifetime."
This picture book goes on to show that ANYTHING can happen on live TV.

My thoughts: Misunderstood Shark is a great book. I loved the illustrations. (I also loved the design and layout. So clever!) I loved the narrative. What a great way to introduce the concept of an unreliable narrator! There's also the fun way it incorporates facts into the narrative.

This one might pair well with Jonathan Fenske's Barnacle is Bored or Plankton is Pushy. Or even Mo Willems That Is Not A Good Idea! Misunderstood Shark uses the live TV angle and That Is Not a Good Idea seems inspired by silent movies. Both are predictably tricksy.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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