What If You Could Sniff Like a Shark?: Explore the Superpowers of Ocean Animals

by Sandra Markle, Howard McWilliam (Illustrator)

Overview

If you could have any ocean animal's superpower, whose would you choose?

What if you woke up one morning, and you suddenly had the superpower of an ocean animal? If you could shapeshift like a giant Pacific octopus, you could squeeze through even the smallest gaps. If you could snap your claws like a coconut crab, you could slice through sheets of metal. And if you could sniff like a great white shark, you'd be able to smell treats from miles away!With zany illustrations and amazing true facts, What If You Could Sniff Like a Shark? launches a brand-new series from bestselling creators Sandra Markle and Howard McWilliam. The What If You Could...? books have all the appeal of the What If You Had...? titles, but focus on animal superpowers and feature a fresh new design.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338356076
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/02/2020
Series:	Scholastic What If You Had... ? Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	72,328
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	IG940L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sandra Markle is the author of more than 200 children's books, which have won numerous awards, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Books for Children, NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended, and ALA Notable Books for Children. She lives in Florida.
Howard McWilliam is the illustrator of Dinosaur Christmas by Jerry Pallotta,I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll, When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore, and the What If You Had...? series by Sandra Markle. He lives in Kingston Upon Thames, England, with his wife, Rebecca. For more information, go to howardmcwilliam.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for What If You Could Sniff Like a Shark!?"Appealing equally to curiosity about the real world and to readers' sense of play. . .A winning mix of solid fact and undisguised fun."—Kirkus "Kids will get a kick out of this great mix of illustrations and animal facts. Libraries that have the previous titles in their collection should add this one to the set."—School Library Journal Praise for What If You Had Animal Teeth!?:"Though perhaps not the best choice for the nightmare-prone, this will surely satisfy animal enthusiasts and trivia lovers, and dentists and parents will appreciate the mention of ways to keep human chompers healthy." — Booklist"It's a hilarious and instructive combination that makes it clear just how variable and individually suited this aspect of anatomy is, and the art takes the concept and runs — well, chomps — with it." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"Delightful illustrations and factual presentations of animals make this a valuable purchase for early elementary classrooms and libraries." — Library Media Connection"The lively text, photographs, and quirky illustrations charmingly tell a great tooth story." — International Reading Association

From the Publisher

05/01/2020

PreS-Gr 3—Markle and McWilliam have produced some interesting "What If You Had…?" titles involving hair, teeth, feet, and noses. This next book in the series describes the "superpowers" of ocean animals. Nine animals and their unique adaptations are spotlighted. Scenarios depict the awesome abilities readers would have if an animal's characteristics were adapted to a human body. A cartoon kid demonstrates each adaptation, such as a child using crab claws to snap through tin or a puffed-up child floating in a parade to illustrate how large a pufferfish can expand. A brief paragraph discusses the animal; a photograph is placed next to the cartoon drawing for comparison. A world map indicating where the creature lives is featured. There are also "What you should know" fact boxes and additional details about the animals. End pages provide information on the four ocean zones. VERDICT Kids will get a kick out of this great mix of illustrations and animal facts. Libraries that have the previous titles in their collection should add this one to the set. Consider purchasing the entire series so readers can peruse all the "What If You Had…?" books.—Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio

School Library Journal

2020-02-09
Wouldn’t you want stinging tentacles or superpowerful crab claws?

Markle and McWilliam continue their tour of the animal sphere begun with What If You Had Animal Teeth? (2013). Markle supplies scientific descriptions of nine marine creatures accompanied by photographic close-ups and realistic renderings, and McWilliam adds big, funny cartoon views of a thoroughly diverse cast of chimerically altered children sporting, essentially, superpowers. Who, after all, wouldn’t love to have the ability to squeeze through a chain-link fence like the giant Pacific octopus, slide over an icy sidewalk in the shell of a loggerhead sea turtle, or blow up like a starry pufferfish to float over a parade? Each animal is given two double-page spreads. On the first, a photograph appears on the verso, with a lively paragraph explaining the attribute explored, while McWilliam’s illustration on recto comically imagines a human child exploiting that attribute. The following double-page spread provides further information including size, life span, and diet along with information about juveniles of the species and another cartoon. Appealing equally to curiosity about the real world and to readers’ sense of play, this makes a natural companion for other eye-widening explorations of the deep like Corrine Demas and Artemis Roerig’s Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter?, illustrated by Ellen Shi (2020), and Brenda Z. Guiberson’s The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea, illustrated by Gennady Spirin (2015).

A winning mix of solid fact and undisguised fun. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews