Sea Creatures from the Sky

by Ricardo Cort s

Overview

A touching, beautifully illustrated story of a misunderstood shark, and its quest to understand the world both above and below the sea.

“Sumptuous paintings and an engaging conceit make this a terrific read-aloud choice.” —Wall Street Journal

A shark, swimming the seas, encounters . . . Aliens.

Will anyone believe it is true?

Sea Creatures from the Sky is a gorgeously illustrated children’s picture book from the New York Times best-selling illustrator of Seriously, Just Go to Sleep. Cortés’s stunning seascapes follow the adventures of a shark that has a story to share about creatures who live above the ocean. Our shark encounters strange-looking creatures who resemble nice, caring marine biologists. But after they release it back into the ocean, the shark cannot find one friend to believe its tale. Filled with humor and warmth, Sea Creatures from the Sky will charm children and parents alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617756160
Publisher:	Akashic Books, Ltd.
Publication date:	04/03/2018
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	1 - 7 Years

About the Author

RICARDO CORTÉS is the #1 New York Times best-selling illustrator of Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Party: A Mystery, by the acclaimed author Jamaica Kincaid. Cortés has written and illustrated books including Sea Creatures from the Sky and A Secret History of Coffee, Coca & Cola. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, and on CNN, Fox News, and the Late Show with David Letterman. You can see his work at Rmcortes.com, or on Twitter and Instagram at @Rmcortes. His latest work is the updated edition of It’s Just a Plant.

Editorial Reviews

"One can applaud Cortes for inviting us to learn about sharks . . . children will enter and emerge from this book with a new understanding of humans’ interest in sharks and ocean life."

New York Journal of Books

"[A] memorable and beautifully illustrated children’s picture book . . . Ricardo Cortés’s stunning seascapes follow the adventures of a shark that has a story to share about creatures who live above the ocean . . . Filled with humor and warmth, Sea Creatures from the Sky will charm and entertain children."

Midwest Book Review

"What must a shark make of the scientists who study her? I won’t be able to look at the animals I tag quite the same way ever again."

Dr. Alistair Dove

"I loved everything about this story. The art is just beautiful...It's a look at preservation and oceanography from a different point of view, and makes a realistic-looking shark less threatening, even likable. Kids will appreciate the misunderstood predator; how many times have kids been called out for exaggerating a recollection that is absolutely true from their point of view...This one is a must-add to story times and books where sharks and undersea life are popular." —Mom Read It (blog)

"The story...challenges readers of all ages to honor the voices of others and their lived experiences...The cadence of its rhyming and its luminous illustrations of ocean depths, as well as an expansive sky-to-universe stretching palette, will render a child's wonderment for learning about a world that is brand-new." —What's the 411

"This is a lovely, gently philosophical book that reads like an aquatic Twilight Zone episode...An engaging and beautifully illustrated tale." —The Fan Brothers, authors/illustrators of The Night Gardener

"What must a shark makes of the scientists who study her? I won't be able to look at the animals I tag quite the same way ever again." —Dr. Alistair Dove, marine biologist, Georgia Aquarium"

From the Publisher

04/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Abducted from its life underwater, a shark goes on a strange journey from the sea into the sky. There, it is handled and prodded and then released by two strange creatures, who readers will recognize as marine biologists. Once the shark is released by the scientists, it goes back to the other sea critters to tell them of the unbelievable encounter. Cortés's story certainly presents a unique perspective, but its rhyming scheme may be off-putting; sentence length changes frequently, and the meter is often off by a beat ("One bite, that's all it took. For this little fish had a hook"), so reading aloud can prove to be challenging. The phenomenal artwork is what truly makes this book special. The landscapes of the sea, the sky, and outer space are breathtaking. Cortés's different blending and thinning of the colors create a world of beauty. VERDICT This fascinating tale of perspective and point of view makes a fine addition for most collections.—Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2018-01-14
A shark rhymes its perspective on the two human researchers who catch, tag, and release it from a "strange beast"—their boat."It stole me from the ocean, / and took me to the sky." Hooked by a decoy fish, the shark avows, "I should warn you about the next page. / Because if you look, you might scream. // I saw the two scariest creatures I've ever seen." Against a cloud-studded blue sky, Cortés depicts a black woman and a white man. After its release (alert readers might spy its post-encounter fin tag) the shark regales many, "from the whale / to anchovies," all of whom scoff at its tale's "complete impossibility." Cortés' premise has child appeal and even some STEM utility, and his lovely illustrations invite contemplation of the teeming worlds above and beneath the sea. The hip-hop-style rhymes yield a somewhat wobbly narrator, who conveys both an ignorance of humans and boats and a glib facility with "faces with beards," "heads with two ears," printed books, and the passage of two weeks' time. The depictions of the curve of the Earth in space and of the sky—cloudy or starry, always vast—are lush, but their expansiveness seems aligned more with the artist's expressive impulses than the shark's-eye story arc.Accept a slight current of illogic and enjoy this tale's accomplished visuals and percussive rhymes. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews