Smart About Sharks and a Giveaway

A newly published non-fiction children's book arrived today, "Smart About Sharks" written and illustrated by Owen Davey and published by Flying Eye Books.

You can view a preview of this new title at the author's website here.

I must admit, when it first arrived from the publisher, I didn't think this would be a title I would be interested in, but it is fascinating and I could not put it down.  I have learnt so much!!!

This is an excellent text for modelling informational text features including: Contents Page, Index, diagrams, captions, flowcharts and labels.

I really love the play on words with some of the titles of the various sections, for example: "All Fins Considered", "Eat, Prey, Hunt", "A Bite to Eat", "Making a Meal of Things" and so forth.  As an adult reader, this kept me amused and lightened the "mood" of an informational text.

Did you know?

• Sharks are fish that don't have any bones.
• Sharks are found in nearly every ocean on the planet.
• Sharks are more than 200 million years older than dinosaurs.
• Shark's nostrils are known as nares.
• Some shark species are as tiny as a pencil.
• The shortfin mako shark is the fastest shark in the ocean.
• The epaulette shark can walk out of water and hold its breath 60 times longer than a human.
• Some shark species can have over 100 pups in a litter.
• Some sharks give birth to live young, some lay eggs and some carry eggs within the mother's body.

The author also includes suggestions for protecting the environment and our marine life at the end of the book.  

"Smart About Sharks" would make an excellent companion text for other shark titles.  You can see my previous blog post about two recently published picture story books about sharks and resources to support them here.  You can also preview the resources here.

All of these titles would be super if you participate in Shark Week activities.

To celebrate the release of this newly published informational text, I will be giving away the complimentary copy that was sent to me by Walker Books.  Please complete the Rafflecopter entries below for your chance to win.  

(Open to Australian residents only due to postage costs).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have just received notification of a blog post from The Picture Book Review which features another shark title that you may be interested in.  Click on the link here to read the blog post.

Have a terrific week :)