Big Sharks, Small World

Big Sharks, Small World is a very engaging nonfiction board book about sharks. Young readers learn about several species of sharks through gently rhyming text. The font is gleaming white and large, perfect for the eyes of young readers. Physical size comparisons between the sharks and common elements in a child’s world, such as a garbage truck or a duck, help young readers to make connections to their known environment.

The photograph images, full of peaceful, deep blues, set a calm tone throughout the book and frame the sharks within the images as nonviolent and serene in their own ecosystem. It is clear that this book aims to be scientific rather than ostentatious. Young readers will not come away fearing sharks after reading this book, and, in fact, they may be curious to look up some more information about the sharks they meet! I certainly want to know more about these epaulette sharks that ‘walk’!

Mark Leiren-Young is the kind of author we want writing information books for children. He has a breadth of experience as a filmmaker, playwright, screenwriter, podcaster, and author. Notably, he won a Science Writers and Communicators of Canada award for his first book, The Killer Whale Who Changed the World, and he has become a familiar name with young information book readers in British Columbia since his book The Mystery and History of Killer Whales was shortlisted for a nonfiction Red Cedar (British Columbia readers’ choice) award in 2021.

Big Sharks, Small World is short but very deserving to be added to the family or library bookshelf. Leiren-Young starts toddler readers on the path of respecting and admiring the sharks who inhabit the world’s oceans.