Smart about Sharks! (About Animals)

In a stylized guide to sharks featuring cheekily titled spreads ("All Fins Considered"; "Eat, Prey, Hunt"), Davey explores various aspects of sharks including their anatomy, behavior, reproduction, and the myths surrounding them. A spread devoted to "awards" honors the epaulette shark for its "astounding ability of walking out of water" and the nurse shark as the "laziest," and a "weird and wonderful" section highlights some of the striking diversity among sharks. Davey's crisp, matte illustrations capture the animals' naturalistic attributes while evoking a sense of their mystery and allure; players of the popular app Two Dots, also illustrated by Davey, may notice that the sea tortoise and squid in a section about sharks' diet look a bit familiar. It's an engaging and visually sophisticated addition to shark-lovers' libraries. Ages 6-up. (Aug.)

Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 1-4 Tongue-in-cheek headings, descriptive text, and art with a retro color palette make this an alternative take on the typical shark book. As fun to read as it is informative, this title covers the diet, hunting techniques, social life, size, and biology of eight orders of sharks. The layout is well designed, and the illustrations, rendered digitally, are appealing and detailed. The color palette consists of earth tones, muted golds and turquoise, and corals--colors perfectly suited to the undersea world of sharks. Some subjects receive an entire spread, such as the body diagram of a Caribbean reef shark. The work culminates with a warning that much of the shark population is at risk and a brief explanation as to why. Tips for ecologically sensitive living that are accessible for readers (recycling plastic, eating sustainable seafood, and being aware of energy usage) are also included. VERDICT Consider this amusing and edifying work for summer displays and artsy kids who also happen to like sharks.--Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

It's an engaging and visually sophisticated addition to shark-lovers' libraries.
—Publisher's Weekly

This book's engaging informative content is rivaled only by its uncommonly sophisticated illustrations. [...] An all-around superior nonfiction resource.
—Booklist

I love children's books that are as delicious for kids as they are for adults, and Smart About Sharks is exactly that. With a sumptuous textured cloth cover, an appealing gray-tinted palette of earth tones playfully punctuated by pink, and a retro encyclopedic design, Smart is filled with fascinating bite-sized shark facts that were completely new to me.
—BoingBoing

A beautifully illustrated compendium of facts about sharks [...]
—Creative Review

Kids love sharks. Owen Davey's Smart About Sharks is going to jump off the shelves and demand to go home with these kids. What's not to love? There are great infographics giving out wild information (wait until you see all the different kinds of teeth found in sharks across the world), bright, brilliant artwork with a retro feel to it, and tons of facts about sharks, including a debunking of their status as maneaters: if you're on a surfboard, you look like a seal, and the book has the artwork to prove it.
—Books For Kids

The skillful assembly of geometric shapes and patterns captures the essence of [Davey's] carnivorous, cartilaginous subjects.
—Science Friday

"Smart About Sharks," by Owen Davey, has illustrations to die for and fun facts to marvel at.
—Campus Circle

Each page is perfectly balanced with educational facts intermixed with lively sharks that look as if they are swimming in and out of the pages. This well researched book will immerse all readers in fascinating facts about the most well-known predator of the seas.
—OmniLibros

I learned a great deal that I didn't know about sharks, and I think that a 7 or 8-year-old would have a great time with this book. [...] More importantly, this book is a great introduction to nonfiction reading for children.
—The Cyberlibrarian