Shark Week is an annual television program, featuring shark-based programming, that airs on the Discovery Channel in either July or early August. This year Shark Week will go from Tuesday, July 23 - 30, and will be hosted by Aquaman star Jason Mamoa. The show originally premiered on July 17, 1988, and since 2010, has been the longest-running cable television programming event in history.
In the spirit of Shark Week, we want to encourage our patrons to learn more about these amazing animals. The library has books and DVDs about sharks available for all ages. Take a look at the booklist below or speak to staff at your preferred library location to see what's available.
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- Did You Know?
- Sharks don't have bones, well not true bones. Their skeletons are made up of cartilaginous tissue, very similar to the same tissue that our ears and the end of our nose are made up of.
- There are over 500 different species of sharks, and 143 of them are under threat of disappearing.
- Shark skin feels exactly like sandpaper because it is made up of tiny teeth-like structures called placoid scales. These scales point toward the tail and help reduce friction from the surrounding water when the shark swims.
- The average life span for most species of sharks is about 20 years. However, the spiny dogfish shark can live for over 100 years.
- Based on fossil scales found in Australia and the United States, scientists hypothesize sharks first appeared in the ocean around 455 million years ago.
- The smallest shark is the dwarf lantern shark, it only measures 6 inches.
- Each whale shark's spot pattern is as unique as a fingerprint. This is true of most animals with patterned skin such as zebras, giraffes, leopards, etc.
- Most sharks have to keep swimming to pump water over their gills in order to get oxygen. However, bottom-feeding sharks, such as nurse or angel sharks have a spiracle. A unique organ located behind their eyes that allows them to actually pull in water.
- Sharks can go through 6,000 teeth in a single year.
- The largest living shark is the whale shark. They can measure up to 41.5 feet long, that's longer than a school bus.
- You can tell the age of a shark by counting the rings on its vertebrae, much like with a tree.
- Children's Books
Children's Picture Books: These books are perfect for children who are not reading on their own yet, generally in the 3 to 6 age range. They rely heavily on pictures and illustrations to tell a story and are great for story time at the library or at home.
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Mother of Sharks by Melissa Cristina Márquez
E MARQUEZ
As the sun sets over another gorgeous day at la Playita Del Condado in Puerto Rico, Meli doesn't want to go home. She loves the ocean more than anything, and with only five minutes left at the beach, she knows exactly where her last stop should be: the tidal pools. They are small universes of their own teeming with critters and creatures of the ocean. While looking into the pools, she meets a crab, Jaiba, who takes her on a dreamlike underwater adventure, teaches her about the importance of shark conservation, and reveals Meli's ultimate destiny: to become the Mother of Sharks.
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Oona and the Shark by Kelly DiPucchio
E DIPUCCHI
Oona loves to share her inventions with her friends. They're big and bold and LOUD--just like her! But there's one underwater creature who doesn't seem to enjoy Oona's company, or her creations. Stanley the shark! He doesn't care for her squeaky unicorn. And he's far too busy for the Sea Horse Carousel. And oh GOODNESS! Oona's latest hopping, chopping, and popping inventions just make him angry. Oona may not know what Stanley likes, but she does know what he doesn't. And maybe that's a good place to start. Because mermaids never stop trying...not when there's a friend out there to make.
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Misunderstood Shark: Starring Shark! by Ame Dyckman
E DYCKMAN
Every beachgoer knows that there's nothing more terrifying than a... SHARRRK! But this shark is just misunderstood, or is he? The filming of an underwater TV show goes awry when the crew gets interrupted by a... SHARRRK! Poor Shark, he wasn't trying to scare them, he's just misunderstood! Then he's accused of trying to eat a fish. Will Shark ever catch a break? After all, he wasn't going to eat the fish, he was just showing it his new tooth! Or was he? Explosively funny, extraordinarily clever, and even full of fun shark facts. this surprisingly endearing story gets to the heart of what it feels like to be misunderstood by the people around you. With a surprise twist ending, our Misunderstood Shark will have kids rolling with laughter!
Children's Early Readers: These books are considered the earliest chapter book a child can experience. Broken up into smaller chapters, early readers are a great way to boost confidence in young readers. While they are mostly read from the ages 5-9, early readers can be enjoyed by anyone!
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Big Shark, Little Shark, and the Missing Teeth by Anna Membrino
E BEGIN MEMBRINO
Hurray! Big Shark lost another tooth! Little Shark wishes he would lose his first tooth. Emergent readers who are losing teeth of their own will love this funny and easy-to-read Step 1.
Sharks lose teeth all the time! But Little Shark hasn't lost a single tooth...yet. And then Big Shark can't find his missing teeth that he's collected. Where could they be? Shark fans and emergent readers will enjoy all the books starring this funny pair of
Big Shark, Little Shark
Big Shark, Little Shark Go to School
Big Shark, Little Shark, Baby Shark
Big Shark, Little Shark and the Spooky Cave.Image
Wild Sharks! by Martin & Chris Kratt
E BEGIN KRATT, M.
Dive into an ocean of sharks with the Wild Kratts in this Deluxe Step into Reading leveled reader—plus stickers!
Chris and Martin Kratt—the Wild Kratts—explore the world of sharks from the tiny dwarf shark to the hungry Great White to the biggest Whale shark. The Wild Kratts dive in to reveal the different ways these incredible creatures survive where they live, who they eat, who eats them, and more! Young readers 3 to 6 will love the information and a sheet of over 30 stickers adds to the fun.Step 2 readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.
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E BEGIN LAI, R.
Sunny the Shark is a fearsome predator. As the oceanic whitetip shark searches for her next meal, a chatty school of pilot fish trails behind, cleaning her in exchange for food crumbs. But when Sunny mistakes a plastic ring for prey and it gets caught around her fin, she soon struggles to hunt. Will she be able to break free and find food before winter sets in?
This is the third book in the Surviving the Wild series by Remy Lai. Planet Earth meets Narwhal and Jelly in this funny and suspenseful early reader graphic novel series featuring heroic animals surviving in the perilous wilderness! Inspired by true events, the book includes facts about climate change, koalas, and how kids can help protect the environment.
Chapter Books or JFiction: These books are generally for children ages 9-12 and they are 4,000-15,000 words in length. These books have more content and more complex language than the children may have seen before. Therefore, they are broken into chapters to help the readers better comprehend the material.
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Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
JFICTION HARGRAVE
There are more secrets in the ocean than in the sky...
Ten-year-old Julia loves the mysteries of the ocean and marine biology, just like her scientist mother. Her family is spending the summer on a remote island where her mom is searching for the elusive Greenland shark, a creature that might be older than the trees, and so rare that it’s only been seen a few times. But the ocean is reluctant to give up its secrets, and Julia tries not to worry as her mother returns disappointed at the end of each day.
Determined to prove that the shark is real, Julia sets off on a quest to find it herself, armed with a set of coordinates, a compass, and her trusty rain jacket. She soon realizes that there are some journeys you shouldn’t go on alone. As Julia comes face to face with the dark and wondrous truths of the sea, she finds the strength to leave the shark in the depths and kick up towards the light.Image
Danger on the Reef by Jake Maddox
JFICTION MADDOX
Jasmine Lopez and her brother Arjun love exploring the coral reefs around Fiji, where their marine biologist parents are stationed. Jasmine, already a certified scuba diver, dreams of following in her parent's footsteps and wants to help Arjun do the same.
Unfortunately, her younger brother is sure he already knows everything. That attitude gets them into danger when Arjun drifts too far from the group during a dive, and straight into a reef shark.
These two siblings will find out what the consequences are when they don't give the ocean the respect and care it deserves. Can Jasmine and Arjun escape the shark and make it back to the group safely?
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JFICTION WHITE, R.
The world's shark population is in trouble for a sad, simple reason: shark fin soup. And although it's illegal, poachers have been targeting Florida's biannual migration of blacktip sharks.
Marine biologist Doc Ford needs some assistance protecting the sharks and enlists the help of three kids--Luke, Maribel and Sabina. Luke is brand-new to Florida from the Midwest; sisters Maribel and Sabina have only recently arrived from Cuba--and all three feel like fish out of water. It's going to take some convincing for them to work as a team and to recognize in themselves the courage, wisdom and tenacity that Doc sees in them.Together they form Sharks, Inc. and are given an important assignment: to set out each day on their small fishing boat in hopes of tagging sharks for Doc's research--and to stay away--far away--from any possible poachers in the area.
JNonFiction: A nonfiction book is one that tells you facts and information about the world around you. It can cover almost any topic, from wild animals to Vikings. If it's about something that really happened or something that really exists, it is nonfiction.
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Sharks: 300 Fin-nomenal Facts to Dive Into by National Geographic Kids
J 597.3 SHA 2023
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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Sharks: A Mighty Bite-y History by Miriam Forster
J597.3 FOR 2022
An epic, oversize nonfiction picture book in the vein of 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 times, 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!Image
Ocean Animal Atlas: Amazing Facts, Fold-out Maps, and Life-size Surprises by Ben Hubbard
J597.77 LON 2022
Take a deep dive into the aquatic world to see sealife as you've never seen it before. Ocean by ocean and sea by sea, readers will discover all the amazing animals that inhabit this watery landscape, from ferocious sharks and giant whales to multicolored tropical fish, long-legged squid and strange bioluminescent creatures that glow eerily in the ocean depths. Beautiful illustrations, dynamic photos and fact-packed text will reveal the lives, habitats and behaviors of these incredible marine creatures. Maps and diagrams will show where the animals live - both horizontally across the oceans (including migration routes), and vertically from the surface down to the seabed. It's an underwater adventure in a book.
- Young Adult & Adult Books
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Shark: Why we Need to Save the World's Most Misunderstood Predator by Paul de Gelder
597.3 GEL 2022
We have a perennial fascination with sharks. Portrayed in the media and popular culture as killing machines, we are awed by their power and strength. But the shark is so much more – a marvel of the sea, they have evolved over 450 million years into over 500 species, from the bioluminescent kitefin to the tiny dwarf lantern shark, the sociable lemon shark to the blue shark, which can birth up to 100 pups in one litter. Bringing balance to the ocean’s ecosystem, our planet is at serious risk when these amazing creatures are threatened.
Paul de Gelder, who lost two limbs in a shark attack during a mission as an elite Australian navy clearance diver, spent time as part of his recovery learning all about sharks. He became so obsessed that, despite what happened to him, he is now an expert and has dedicated his life to helping save them. Shark is his love letter to these unfairly vilified animals, and his warning to the world about what will happen if we don’t look out for them.Image
When Sharks Attack With Kindness by Andrés J. Colemenares
YA 741.5 COL 2021
Cute, clever, and comically ingenious, Andrés Colmenares’ popular shark comics are a sweet, sincere tonic for these anxious, troubled times.
This hardcover collection features the cute, uplifting and ingenious aquatic cartoons of Andrés Colmenares, the creator of Wawawiwa Comics, followed by millions of fans around the globe. While sharks are one of the ocean’s deadliest predators, these sharks can smell insecurity, doubt, and gloom, and are quick to strike — with kindness, cuteness, and positivity!
When Sharks Attack With Kindness includes a QR code linking to a special instrumental soundtrack for audiences to enjoy while reading the book.Image
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
FICTION WASHBURN 2020
In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard from a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.
Nainoa's family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods - a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family's legacy.Image
Drawn to the Deep: the Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles by Julie Hauserman
BIO SKIES, W. 2018
Drawn to the Deep celebrates the life of an extraordinary adventurer who braved extreme danger to share the hidden beauty and environmental truths of the planet with others. Skiles felt a pull to the water as a child, captivated by the cobalt springs of Florida. His passion for diving and his innovative camera techniques earned him assignments with National Geographic and Outside. He also took part in creating over a hundred films, many of which won international awards and acclaim. Skiles was a self-taught expert on Florida's freshwater springs and an outspoken advocate for their conservation. He went head to head with scientists and government officials who dismissed his firsthand observations of water movement through the "Swiss-cheese" karst rock of the underground aquifer. But he never gave up on his quest to disprove the prevailing scientific models or to protest what they allowed―the unchecked pumping and depletion of Florida's groundwater. Through interviews with Skiles's friends and family, along with insights from his own journals, Julie Hauserman describes the escapades and achievements that characterized his life's work. This book is the inspiring story of an explorer and activist who uncovered environmental abuses, advanced the field of underwater photography, and astonished the world with unprecedented views of the secret depths of the planet.
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Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop
YA FICTION NORTHROP
A thrilling survival story from Michael Northrop, the acclaimed author of TRAPPED.
He couldn't sleep. That's how it all started. When Davey wakes, just as the sun is rising, he can't wait to slip out of the crammed hotel room he's sharing with his family. Leave it to his parents and kid brother to waste an entire day of vacation sleeping in! Davey heads straight for the beach, book and glasses in hand, not bothering to leave a note. As the sparkling ocean entices him, he decides to test the water, never mind that "No Swimming" sign. But as the waves pull him farther from shore, Davey finds himself surrounded by water -- and something else, too. Something circling below the surface, watching, waiting. It's just a matter of time.
- DVDs for Various Ages
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Ocean Predators: Killer Whales, Great White Sharks, Piranhas and More!
DVD J591.5 SCI 2022
In this new 2022 high-definition program, learn all about ocean predators' past and present. What was the megalodon? How big and powerful was it compared to the apex predators of today? Why are orcas called the "wolves of the sea"? How are great white sharks different than orcas? Where do you find piranha and how do they hunt? Why does a moray eel have two jaws? What is a siphonophore? The answers to all of these questions and more are covered in depth with detailed graphics, diagrams, and exciting videos that reinforce important concepts and make learning fun.
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Baby Shark's Big Show! Super Shark
DVD E BAB
Baby Shark and William, inspired by their favorite television show She-Shark, set out to be superheroes Super Shark and Captain Kelp! Can they save playtime? Join the duo and find out! Plus, swim along for additional exciting adventures in Carnivore Cove!
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DVD J590 WIL
Chris and Martin Kratt have three friends who travel in the Tortuga HQ with them named Aviva, Koki and Jimmy Z. The team helps them by creating power suit creature disks for each animal they study. They also bring them supplies and help them out of tricky situations when their adventures get dicey. The group has to overcome villains as well, like a chef who wants to serve endangered species on his menu, or a clothing designer who wants to trap and use live animals to make her clothing line, or a tech villain who wants to turn animals into robots to do his bidding. All of the villains have no regard for nature or conservation.
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DVD 597.3 SHA 2021
With some 40 species of shark calling Hawaii's waters home, scientists are seeing new animal behavior around every corner. Hopping from island to island, uncover surprising moments of cooperation, rarely seen hunting tactics and striking insights into these predators. Meet the Whitetip reef shark, Whale shark, Tiger shark and more through the lens of remote sensor cameras and drone technology.
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DVD DRAMA FOR
Four teen girls diving in a ruined underwater city quickly find themselves in a watery hell as their fun outing turns into heart-stopping fear when they learn they are not alone in the submerged caves. As they swim deeper into the claustrophobic labyrinth of caves they enter the territory of the deadliest shark species in the ocean.
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DVD 597.3 SHA 2017
Celebrate America's summertime tradition with 32 fintastic episodes in the Shark 'n' awe! collection. Shark Week is back, making a huge splash with all-new, compelling and jaw-dropping shark stories and shark technology. Working with the most respected marine biologists and science institutions. It highlights some of the most recent breakthroughs and developments that have led to remarkable new insights into these magnificent creatures.
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DVD HORROR JAW
Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss unite in a fight against a great white shark that has come to terrorize the residents of a formerly peaceful summer community on the New York coast. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley. Originally released as a motion picture in 1975.
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DVD 597.33 SAV 2019
Follow Ocean Ramsey, a conservationist famous worldwide for swimming with great white sharks, as she travels the globe creating awareness for declining shark populations and the ecological impact of over-fishing.