Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 14, 2016

Review

Brown's poems about 14 different sharks are excellent. Playing with forms and using playful language, she captures the essence of each shark subject. And the shark facts on each page are a nice addition, providing the shark-lover not just with a fun poem about a shark, but with interesting tidbits. Kolar's images are well-rendered, but the digital format is not my favorite when dealing with sharks. Most shark-enthusiasts want photographs and that would have been pretty amazing here, but it also might have been difficult since a few of the sharks included are pretty elusive creatures (goblin shark, megamouth shark). But hand-drawn illustrations with more detail would have enhanced this book making it an essential purchase. As it stands, it is a fantastic poetry book that can be appreciated by upper elementary students, but with so-so pictures that may not stick with the casual K-5 reader.

Overall Book Score: very good