SHARK AND LOBSTER’S AMAZING UNDERSEA ADVENTURE

An undersea tale with a distinct Aesopian flavor, bound at the top so that it opens vertically. Having heard that tigers are “full of teeth and stripes,” a frightened shark enlists Lobster and other marine denizens to construct a fortress—but then, still apprehensive, pulls a sleeping monster up from the deep for further protection. Bad move, as Shark learns when the benthic behemoth awakes. The illustrations’ tall, narrow shape enhances that deep-sea feeling, and the cartoon creatures that float past (spouting comments in dialogue balloons) add a surreal air—particularly the monster, which sports long eyelashes, oddly placed fins and a chorus line of female human legs on a rubbery, sickly green body. A merry chase later, Shark realizes that sharks are also toothy, and that Lobster is striped, so there’s really nothing to fear from tigers. There’s a moral there, somewhere. (Picture book. 6-8)