Shark Week – Discovering Sharks

It’s that time of year again! Shark Week has returned to make its killing for Discovery Channel, making it the perfect time to review prehistoric shark material. Last year I took a look at Paleo Sharks: Survival of the Strangest and the Safari Ltd. Prehistoric Sharks Toob, while today’s review concerns Discovering Sharks, by Donna Parham, though paleoartist Julius Csotonyi is the real star as the main illustrator, with additional illustrations prepared by Alexandra Lefort. Csotonyi has a trademark highly realistic style that always makes his subjects visually striking. Be sure to check out Csotonyi’s online gallery, and check out some of the other books he’s illustrated! I’ve reviewed Pinocchio Rex & Dino World, and while I have yet to review it, I highly recommend the compilation volume The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi. You won’t regret it!

Discovering Sharks features sharks both prehistoric and modern, divided into separate sections of the books. From superstars like Megalodon and the Great White Shark, to oddballs such as Helicoprion and the Viper Dogfish, the book manages to pack in an impressive diversity of species, both famous and obscure. It really leaves readers with a strong hint of the true diversity of sharks both modern and ancient, and puts the lie to the old “unchanged for millions of years” trope everybody likes to apply to them.

While Hybodus might not look a million miles away from a great white, there’s no mistaking a Helicoprion or a Xenacanthus for a modern shark. (Incidentally, Xenacanthus appears in this book alongside its likely predator, Dimetrodon. This illustration also hangs as a mural in The Whiteside Museum of Natural History.) Even the modern diversity of sharks on display in this book clearly demonstrates the vast array of unique adaptations various shark families have acquired over the eons.

This book is perfect for any grade school child fascinated with sharks, even those with a slight fear of sharks. The arresting illustrations by Csotonyi, accompanied by text boxes full of interesting facts by Parham, are sure to increase anyone’s appreciation for sharks. Far from the fearsome monsters of the movies, sharks deserve our awe and appreciation as much as any other charismatic predator.

I greatly enjoyed Discovering Sharks myself, and would even recommend it for older readers as well. I would show off more of the illustrations if I could, but I don’t want to spoil the whole thing! Just know I haven’t even shown a fraction of what it has to offer. It is relatively thick for a book of this sort, and well worth the purchase. I give this an enthusiastic Stomp of Approval! If you’d like to learn more about prehistoric sharks, be sure to check out my other Shark Week posts, such as Paleo Sharks, the Prehistoric Sharks Toob, the Sharks and Other Sea Monsters Pop-Up Book, and Sharks: A 400 Million Year Journey. I also recommend Hannah Bonner’s When Fish Got Feet, Bugs Were Big, and Dinos Dawned, as well as Abby Howard’s Ocean Renegades! Keep an eye on this space for more Shark Week content in the next few days!