Sharks Have Six Senses

Gr 1–2—In this attractive picture book, Waters explains how sharks use six senses to great advantage. With distant touch, they detect minute changes in water current and temperature, and they hear vibrations over vast distances. With their gills, they smell underwater, and they can see in the dark. With nodes located in their throat and mouth, they can taste the animals they catch. Electroreception, sharks' unique sixth sense, enables them to detect creatures' electric fields, including the human heartbeat. The text employs useful, real-world examples. For instance, Waters compares a shark using electroreception to a beachcomber with a metal detector finding coins hidden under the sand. Spreads in bright yet gentle colors depict these animals and their prey, and the cut-paper collage illustrations soften the sharks' deadly actions. The introduction briefly addresses the threat of extinction as a result of human activities. Some anthropomorphizing ("big sharks could eat all the people they wanted…. But they don't, because sharks know that people don't live in their world.") detracts slightly from the information.