ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters
by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 076362229X
Ages 5-up
12 pages

Throughout history, there have been many stories and legends of mythical, larger-than-life sea creatures --- Leviathan, Kraken, the Loch Ness Monster, even Jaws. It seems that people have always been fascinated by the ocean and the mysterious life that dwells in its depths. However, ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: SHARKS AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart proves that as frightful and fascinating as these myths are, nothing is more hair-raising and captivating to the imagination than the real-life monsters that once stormed the seas centuries ago.

Through this second installment in the Encyclopedia Prehistorica series, Sabuda and Reinhart will turn just about anyone into an aspiring marine biologist with this taste of ancient underwater life. Using the same style that made ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: DINOSAURS a bestseller, they combine well-researched facts and innovative, unique three-dimensional pop-up art so that meticulously constructed monsters will swim, leap, and even fly (yes, some birds were aquatic too!) from each page.

On six main spreads and twice as many mini-booklets, readers will encounter eight-ton mammoth crocodiles, ferocious spiral-toothed sharks, colossal seven-foot-long sea scorpions, and over 30 more unbelievable animals that are almost --- just almost --- too unusual to be true. And if readers can manage to tear their eyes from the remarkable cardboard replicas of sharp claws, snapping jaws and spiked fins, they'll also find a wealth of trivia on sea creatures of all shapes and sizes, as well as a bit of paleontology history.

No longer do children need to rely on tales of Sirens and sea dragons when there are enough once living and breathing spine-tingling ocean dwellers in SHARKS AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS to make anyone's heart race. If these creatures were any more larger than life, we'd need a bigger book!

   --- Reviewed by Marisa Emralino

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