Why I Care About Sharks - Hardcover

Lisa Cook & Joel Simonetti

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0972926208 ISBN 13: 9780972926201

Publisher: A Big Fish Press Book, 2003

Synopsis

Why I Care About Sharks is an adventure-travel story full of rich imagery: dynamic photography, colorful comics and intriguing scientific illustrations. The story, and supporting facts, shows how people and sharks are connected and brings that relationship to life for both children and adults. Each page of Why I Care About Sharks cleverly brings these elements together in a bold style that children can easily understand and will want to read.

About this title

About the Author:

"Joel Simonetti was born far from the ocean in Upstate New York, but has all his life been obsessed with water and the creatures that live in it. As a boy, with a snorkel and fishing pole, he explored the lakes and streams near his home. He pieced together his first visions of the sea reading and watching Jacques Cousteau. It became his lifelong dream to see coral reefs, sharks, mantas and groupers big enough to swallow a spearfisherman. But after 30 years exploring the ocean, in the Chesapeake Bay, the Florida Keys, Curacao and Bonaire, Tobago, Australia, Palau and Indonesia, Joel discovered that in most places the ocean's ecosystems are not what they seem on television or in the pages of glossy magazines. Instead they're shadows of a largely forgotten past. So with his wife, fellow teacher and traveling companion Lisa Cook, Joel started Fintegrity, a non-profit that helps educators inspire children to care about the sea. In school, few young people are taught about marine ecosystems or learn how unimaginably full of life the seas once were. Unless future leaders are provided these learning opportunities, they won't come to know that a fish-filled ocean is their heritage, and they won't see how it s possible to put it all back together again. Joel is the co-author of the book Why I Care About SHARKS and the upcoming book Eating Coral Reefs

Lisa Cook is first and foremost a science teacher. She has dedicated her entire professional life to helping her middle and high school students see the relevance of science. Inspired by writers like Mowatt, Kingsolver, Safina, Carson and Leopold-who translate the work and vision of scientists for the greater public-it's been Lisa's dream to create similar books for teens and teachers. Lisa has spent the past 18 years living, teaching and SCUBA diving in the Caribbean and in Indonesia. Over the coral reefs of both regions she's taken hundreds of young people snorkeling, helping them understand the ecosystems they see. In 2003 Lisa co-authored Why I Care About SHARKS a children's book that uses sharks to pique kids' curiosity about the ocean and to help them think critically about the ecological and social problems associated with overfishing. With support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Lisa has conducted numerous teacher-training workshops and given away thousands of copies of SHARKS to international school educators all over East Asia. In 2009 she co-founded Fintegrity, a non-profit, dedicated to empowering educators to teach about marine ecosystems so they can inspire their students to take action as stewards of the ocean. Lisa is the co-author of the upcoming book Eating Coral Reefs."

Review:

Why I care about Sharks is simply the best book about sharks for kids that I have ever seen. And I've seen a lot of children's books about sharks. Doug Perrine is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost marine wildlife photographers. His photographs have been reproduced in virtually every major nature magazine in the world, as well as in hundreds of books, calendars, greeting cards, posters, etc., including more than 100 covers. Doug is also the author of five books on marine life, and numerous magazine articles. --Doug Perrine

Why I Care About Sharks is a wonderful 63-page book that provides a factual overview of the shark finning issue through an imaginative story related by two young protagonists learning about the sea. The mixture of photographs, scientific drawings and cartoon illustrations is perfectly attuned to keeping the attention of young minds. Since 1995, Tony Wu has combined his love of visual art with his interest in the marine world through underwater photography, and he has concentrated on using his photographs and writing to encourage others to appreciate and protect the beauty of the oceans. Tony's images have received international awards in Japan, Europe and the US, and his writing appears regularly in publications worldwide. His first book, Silent Symphony , received the award for "Best Book of the Year" at the 28th annual Antibes Festival of Marine Images in France. --Tony Wu

Why I care about Sharks is a great teaching resource in that first and foremost students love it. The layout and presentation has obviously been created with students in mind yet it also provides an eminently flexible and useable teaching resource. The combination of cartoon 'narrators', quality graphics and imaginative presentation make for compelling reading while at the same time very clearly presenting the 'hard cold facts'. 6th grade teacher, John Crossman, Brent International School in Subic Bay, The Philippines, used Why I Care About Sharks with his students. --John Crossman

About this edition

• Publisher: A Big Fish Press Book
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0972926208
• ISBN 13: 9780972926201
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 63
• Editor: Dr. John Morrissey, Kathy Hovis
• Illustrator: Kate Spencer, Rod Bambao