Fly Guy presents sharks

Fly Guy and his owner, Buzz, are back! This time they're on a field trip to the aquarium. With a bit of trepidation (which he loses along the way), Fly Guy agrees to tour the shark exhibit with Buzz acting as guide. Mixing photos of fish tanks with notebook-lined journal pages, taped pictures, and handwritten notes about the predators, Buzz introduces readers to a sampling of the more than 400 kinds of sharks. Readers will learn interesting facts about the skeleton, teeth, skin, food, speed, and life cycle. An added plus for young readers is that when unfamiliar words appear, Arnold supplies an in-text pronunciation inside of parentheses. Near the end, it appears there are more facts to tell than pages on which to tell them. As a result, some facts and photos seem crowded. Slick paper and good photos add to the considerable appeal of the package.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit. Buzz: "Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills." Fly Guy: "GILLZZ." Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like "carnivores" and "luminescence" come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are "so cool!" proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. "I can't wait for our next field trip!" (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.) A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.