By Ruth Galloway
The friendly little shark whose big toothy grin scares off every fish in the sea, until the day that same smile is exactly what saves them.
Smiley Shark has the widest, toothiest grin in the ocean, and it makes every other fish dart away the second they see him. Pufferfish, catfish, starfish, jellyfish, they all take one look and swim for it, and poor Smiley Shark ends up lonely. Then a fisherman's net drops down and scoops up all his neighbors at once, and it turns out that huge scary smile is the very thing that can wriggle them loose. For a child who loves sharks but is still small, this is the gentlest possible way in: a shark who is really the hero, told in bright, rounded, un-scary art.
This is the shark book for the shark fan who is still too little for teeth and jaws and hunting. The whole story runs on a smile, not a bite, so a three or four year old who loves the idea of sharks gets to spend a whole book with a big friendly one. Underneath the fun there is a real feeling any small child knows: being avoided for looking different, and then being the one who saves the day. It rhymes, it moves, and it lands somewhere warm.