Overview

Louie sees a shark at the beach, and that's that. Now everywhere he goes he's convinced he'll be eaten by a shark. A humorous, heartwarming picture book helping kids overcome fears and anxiety thanks to Grandpa's wisdom, playful storytelling, and a surprise ending that delights and empowers. Sharks could be anywhere . . . in the bath, in the park, in the toilet! But with some help from Grandpa (who is very wise), Louie begins to face his fears. After all, he has fireflies to count, new friends to make, and a whole new world to discover. A funny, uplifting story with a delightful ending involving a surprise about one of Louie's friends.

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Reviews

A youngster learns to confront his fears--with help from a loving grandparent. At the beach, Louie spots ""something completely and utterly terrifying."" It's a shark--not an open-fanged Jaws monster, just a hammerhead's widely separated eyes peeking above the waves. That's enough: Louie refuses to go back in. His wise grandfather takes him fishing on the lake instead, but that isn't any better. In fact, any body of water, right down to a bubble bath, makes Louie ""jumpy,"" ""suspicious,"" and subject to ""the heebie-jeebies."" At the library, he and his grandpa research sharks: their numerous species, their varied sizes, their life spans, and more. Louie's glad to hear that shark attacks are rare, but all the same, he keeps his distance from the book Grandpa reads from. Eventually Louie confides that he imagines a shark leaping from his teacup, pursuing him on his bike, springing from his sandbox, and even emerging toothily from the toilet. Apparently well-informed on child development, Grandpa doesn't try futile reasoning. Instead, he shares his own irrational childhood phobia and how, with time and work, he ""learned to live with it."" Louie does the work and eventually passes on the wisdom to his grandchild. Both the folksy text and the upbeat art--featuring pops of neon-bright color, Grandpa's extravagant mustache, and touches of humor--balance the worries of a ""world [that] can be scary"" with reassurance that young people are capable of coping with those fears. Tackles childhood anxieties with a mix of humor and genuine empathy. --Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Marcella Ferreira was born in Rio de Janeiro and moved to England as a teen. When she was young, she wrote new dialogue for characters she met in books, just because. She also fell in love with cartoon characters. Now she's a children's book author and wrote Bear vs. Dragon and The Queen Next Door (available in the UK) among others. Marcella lives in England with her husband and two children. Mark Chambers is an author and illustrator of children's books. He studied illustration in college and has won awards and accolades for his work. He is the illustrator of Bear vs. Dragon and Supermouse and the Volcano of Doom. Mark lives and works in the mountains of the French Pyrénées, high up in the clouds with his wife and their very bouncy dog.

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