Sharks: A Mighty Bite-y History
by Miriam Forster; illus. by Gordy Wright
Primary, Intermediate    Abrams    80 pp.    g
5/22    978-1-4197-4773-1    $24.99
e-book ed.  978-1-6470-0702-7    $18.65

Forster describes shark and shark-like species in a tour through geologic time, from almost four hundred million years ago to the present day, highlighting ancient and modern creatures. The book mainly focuses on species with notable features: odd appendages such as a flattop dorsal fin, bony spikes, or a hammer-shaped head; the ability to survive in fresh water; and extremes in size. The shark profiles are accompanied by information about environmental conditions on land and water, contemporaneous marine species, fossil remains, and thoughtful explanations of the mass extinctions and extremes in climate that marked the end of each geologic period. Throughout the timeline are “Toolbox” asides, which creatively ­signal the behaviors, anatomical features, and adaptations that contributed to a group’s survival. Wright’s illustrations of sharks swimming through their watery habitats provide lots of details to observe; the creatures’ rounded, cartoonlike eyes imbue them with personality.

From the May/June 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.