My Top 20 Sharks by Steve Parker

June 2010, Miles Kelly Ltd

40 pages, Paperback 

Review copy 

Non-fiction, children's 

Sharks, sharks and more sharks! 20 gaming cards, 50 stickers 

Summary from the book

Get close to the ultimate predators of the ocean! 

Awesome facts and mind-blowing photographs bring these fearsome fish to life in astonishing detail. 

Star cards rate these ferocious hunters over key categories. Get the facts, then place the stickers to make your choice. 

Nayuleska's thoughts 

*hums famous shark theme* I couldn't refuse to review this one! A dear friend of mine loves sharks, and I love them too. This book covers 20 well known sharks. Most of them have a double-page spread devoted to them. Each have a fact box with the following: 

• Scientific name
• Shark group
• Lifespan
• Length
• Weight
• Range
• Status

Along the bottom of the page is a ribbon with special features for each shark. 

There are lots of stickers for readers to place around the book, so they can create their own ranking order amongst the sharks. Additionally there are 20 sturdy cards which have the following information on: 

• Size
• Lifespan
• Danger to humans (detailing how they attack)
• Threats - what threatens the shark (it isn't invincible!) 

Star ratings can be put on the cards too. 

I enjoyed how much more there is to know about sharks! Here is my take on each shark in the book. 

• Basking shark: nom nom nom! Mouth open, all you can eat buffet all the time. 
• Blue shark: look a bit gormless
• Great white shark: *hums famous shark theme* They really need to see a dentist.
• Greenland shark: Looks as though it is sleeping, but is it really?
• Bull shark: don't make this one mad...
• Spiny dogfish: it's a shark under an alias! 
• Pacific angel shark: quite a pretty one. 
• Scalloped hammerhead shark: the sight of them swimming together is spectacular
• Lemon shark: no citrus scent about this one. 
• Leopard shark: my favourite! It's coloured like a leopard, and the babies are aptly named zebra sharks (and equally cute looking)
• Megamouth shark: this one is... a shark. 
• Sand tiger shark: a little creepy
• Whitetip reef shark: The second most stylish shark of them all - the white tip against the black colour is a top fashion design.
• Bamboo shark: somehow I don't see this one saying hello to a panda...
• Port Jackson shark: strange looking...
• Swell shark: I like the colouring on this one. 
• Tiger shark: sadly no pretty colouring 
• Whale shark: the tamest of the sharks
• Spotted wobbegong: heehee, the name makes me laugh
• Shortfin mako: this one terrifies me. It's eyes are solid black!!! 

Final conclusion: 

Some sharks are cute, some are ugly. Some sharks are scary, some are tamer than cats. All sharks are interesting!