Every year, around July or August, Shark Week dominates the media I consume. This year, Shark Week starts Sunday, July 23 on the Discovery Channel. I can still remember the first time I heard about Shark Week. It’s been around since the late 1980s! Every year, Shark Week is celebrated with a week of shark-related content on the Discovery Channel. I can’t wait to see what new shark content National Geographic and the Discovery Channel puts out.
To celebrate Shark Week, we’ve compiled a list of newer titles about sharks for you to check out. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.
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Can’t Get Enough Shark Stuff: fun facts, awesome info, cool games, silly jokes, and more! by Kelly Hargrave
Dive into the perfect combination of facts, stories, photos, and fun all about the world’s most ferocious and fascinating ocean predator-SHARKS! For animal lovers who are absolutely obsessed with everything sharks, this book has it all: tons of mind-blowing facts, exciting games, hands-on activities, hilarious shark jokes, and suspenseful stories from shark experts. It also includes tantalizing tidbits about perplexing prehistoric sharks, the latest info on studying sharks in the wild, and surprising, cutting-edge discoveries about shark behavior. Key features include: A glossary game in the front of the book to learn key terms More than 250 stunning photographs Detailed diagrams and infographics Articles on the latest shark research and hands-on accounts from experts “Fin-tastic Facts” gallery spreads showcasing sharks with the fiercest features, the sneakiest defenses, and more Hilarious shark jokes Hands-on activities you can try at home Quizzes and games to test your knowledge This brand-new series from National Geographic Kids combines fun facts, photos, info-packed articles, and incredible statistics all in a single book. It’s a one-stop shop for everything kids want about their favorite topic. A winning combination of running text and short bursts of information keeps kids excited and engaged as they get all kinds of amazing content about their go-to subject. From telling jokes to friends, to impressing teachers, to absorbing the latest research, kids will love sharing what they’ve learned about sharks and will want to dive into this book again and again.
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Emperors of the Deep: Sharks – the ocean’s most mysterious, most misunderstood, and most important guardians by William McKeever
In this remarkable groundbreaking book, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks—magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans and ultimately the planet.
From the Jaws blockbusters to Shark Week, we are conditioned to see sharks as terrifying cold-blooded underwater predators. But as Ocean Guardian founder William McKeever reveals, sharks are evolutionary marvels essential to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. We can learn much from sharks, he argues, and our knowledge about them continues to grow. The first book to reveal in full the hidden lives of sharks, Emperors of the Deep examines four species—Mako, Tiger, Hammerhead, and Great White—as never before, and includes fascinating details such as:
- Sharks are 50-million years older than trees;
- Sharks have survived five extinction level events, including the one that killed off the dinosaurs;
- Sharks have electroreception, a sixth-sense that lets them pick up on electric fields generated by living things;
- Sharks can dive 4,000 feet below the surface;
- Sharks account for only 6 human fatalities per year, while humans kill 100 million sharks per year.
McKeever goes back through time to probe the shark’s pre-historic secrets and how it has become the world’s most feared and most misunderstood predator, and takes us on a pulse-pounding tour around the world and deep under the water’s surface, from the frigid waters of the Arctic Circle to the coral reefs of the tropical Central Pacific, to see sharks up close in their natural habitat. He also interviews ecologists, conservationists, and world-renowned shark experts, including the founders of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, the head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, and the self-professed “last great shark hunter.”
At once a deep-dive into the misunderstood world of sharks and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep celebrates this wild species that hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ocean—if we can prevent their extinction from climate change and human hunters.
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How to Draw Incredible Sharks and Other Ocean Giants
This drawing book for kids has more than 80 creatures of the sea to learn how to draw!
Build confidence, encourage creativity, and expand artistic skills with this amazing collection of easy, step-by-step instructions for drawing sharks and underwater creatures! Encourage kids to broaden their artistic horizons and set them smooth sailing towards tackling fins, gills, tails, and other fishy anatomy. The impressive variety from stingrays and orca whales, to sea turtles and squids in this learn to draw provides hours of independent, artistic fun for kids to enjoy and gain confidence as their skills improve.
Whether they love the secrets hidden away in the depths of the ocean or visiting aquariums, this collection is a hit for fans of all aquatic animals–so grab some colored pencils and get creative!
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The Shark Encyclopedia for Kids by Ethan Pembroke
This encyclopedia highlights 26 different sharks. Alongside thrilling photographs of these underwater creatures, readers learn about what various sharks looks like, where they live, what they eat, and more. Features include information about shark attacks, a glossary, additional resources, and an index.
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Sharks!: A Mighty Bite-y History by Miriam Forster
An epic, oversize nonfiction picture book in the vein of Bees: A Honeyed History—all about sharks and their prehistoric predecessors
Sharks are some of the oldest creatures on the earth (or, rather, in its waters). This epic survey follows sharks from their earliest appearance in the Paleozoic era up through the challenges they face today.
Along the way, readers will meet many different sharks from different points in history. They will get an up-close evolutionary look at what makes a shark a shark—like their skin, their teeth, their fins, and more. And they will get a crash course in archeological time, as the book mostly covers prehistoric sharks or modern-day sharks who have been around much longer than humans. Like the hammerhead, who has been patrolling tropical coastlines for more than 20 million years!
With lush illustrations from Gordy Wright and meticulous research from author Miriam Forster, Sharks: A Mighty, Bite-y History is sure to delight shark lovers, science fans, and any reader who loves to discover new wonders about the world around them.
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Weird but True Sharks by National Geographic Kids
Whale sharks have tiny teeth covering their eyeballs! It’s Weird But True! And this fin-tastic, photo- and fact-packed book in the best-selling series is the most jaw-some yet!
Sink your chompers into these wild facts:
Great white sharks can detect a single drop of blood in the water from one-third of a mile away.
Fossilized dino poop has been found with ancient shark bites in it.
Ninja lantern sharks glow in the dark.
They’re all weird, and they’re all true. And there’s A LOT more where that came from!
From bizarre creatures in the ocean today to gigantic prehistoric sharks and even some pop culture shark weirdness, this portable, browsable, supercool book is full of incredible facts, amazing photos, and fun illustrations about everything sharks.
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Do you have a favorite shark? We’d love to hear your thoughts about sharks in the comments.