Stink and the Shark Sleepover. Megan McDonald. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press (Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada), 2014. 158 pp., pbk., hc., EBook, $6.00 (pbk.), $15.00 (hc.). ISBN 978-0-7636-7678-0 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7636-6474-9 (hc.), ISBN 978-0-7636-7033-7 (EBook). Grades 1-4 / Ages 6-9. Review by Laura Dick. *** /4

excerpt:

When do we get to see the sharks?" Stink asked.

"Follow me to Sharks Ahoy!" Miss D. called out.

"Cool!' said Stink. "Dun-dun, dun-dun," he sang as they walked around the rotunda, past penguins splashing in the Palace of Ice, and up a spooky, green-lit ramp.

They followed Miss D. into a glass tunnel that went right through the shark tank. Sleek, slippery sharks swam around them on all sides. Stink gazed in silent awe at the monsters of the deep, with their black beady eyes, pointy snouts, and razor-sharp teeth.

At last, Miss D. broke the silence. "Here we have a shiver of sand tiger sharks."

"They're all teeth," said Sophie, shivering. "That one needs braces!"

Stink's parents win a prize at an auction they attend - a chance to spend a night at their local aquarium enjoying a sleepover. With the sharks. All night long. It all sounds exciting, but Stink isn't sure that he'll be able to sleep at the aquarium. He's a little bit afraid of sleepovers - after all, he's only seven and three quarters. Stink is not going to be alone, though, as the whole family is going - Stink, Judy, Mom, Dad and his friends Webster and Sophie of the Elves and her family, too. Stink is going to have lots of company at the shark sleepover.

      A sleepover would not be complete without a camp fire and ghost story. Miss D, the aquarium tour guide, ends the campers’ evening by telling them the spooky story of the resident vampire squid whose name is Frankensquid. At the conclusion of the tale, Stink and his friends crawl into their sleeping bags, knowing they will not be able to fall asleep, worried about the horrible creature. They are right to be worried.

      Stink and the Shark Sleepover is a perfect book for new chapter book readers, both boys and girls. Illustrated with fun cartoon-type illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds, the "Stink" books are a perfect introduction to chapter books. Appropriately short chapters, good sized font, lots of white space and full, half and quarter page illustrations all combine to make the text very accessible to beginning chapter book readers.

      Each chapter concludes with a page of factual information about various aquarium topics, including tanks, sharkzilla, megalodons, jellyfish and vampire squid. A nice addition for those nonfiction readers who appreciate a little fact with their fiction.

      It's hard not to like the irrepressible Stink who acts, thinks and talks with the typical spunk and enthusiasm of a seven-year-old boy. A a great read aloud or read alone!

Recommended.

Laura Dick is trying to raise four teenagers while attempting to maintain her sanity. She escapes to work as a branch manager at a mid-sized public library in Southwestern Ontario.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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