#CybilsAwards Backlist Book List for #SharkWeek 🦈

kid books for shark week

kid books for shark weekFirst let’s mark our calendar: July 11, 2021. Shark Week. Less than two weeks away. You probably already know that #SharkWeek was created by the Discovery channel, but did you know …

  • Caged in Fear, the first Shark Week episode, premiered on 17 July 1988?
  • Sometimes Shark Week is in August, not July?
  • From 2005-2011 shark lovers could purchase DVD and BluRay episodes of the shows?
  • Its original purpose was to raise ocean conservation awareness and correcting misconceptions about sharks? [source: Wikipedia]

Over the years, #SharkWeek programming has shifted from more scientifically-based content to entertainment, including docufiction and mockumentaries. But fear not!

Just as there are all kinds of shark lovers, the Cybils Awards archives offer an ocean of reading options to satisfy every reader’s sharky interest!  How do we know this? Because there is at least one book in all but one category. Nope, we have poetry. It’s High School Nonfiction that’s missing.

We want to make sure you have time to beat the library rush on shark books to prepare for the “big week.” Better yet, skip the screen and make your own #SharkWeek fun with this amazing (and sometimes funny) collection of books!  Tag us on social, we’d love to see how you celebrate!

Lost and Found Clark the Shark Bruce HaleClark the Shark: Lost and Found
I Can Read Level 1
by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Guy Francis
2016 Nominee
Easy Reader
shark school deep sea disaster davy oceanDeep-Sea Disaster
Shark School, Book 1
by Davy Ocean, illustrated by Aaron Blecha
2014 Nominee
Early Chapter Book
Everything Awesome about Sharks and other underwater creatures mike lowryEverything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures
written and illustrated by Mike Lower
2020 Nominee
Elementary Nonfiction
Formerly Shark Girl Kelly BinghamFormerly Shark Girl
by Kelly Bingham
2013 Nominee
Young Adult Fiction
Great White Shark Adventures Fabien Cousteau James FraioliGreat White Shark Adventure
Fabien Cousteau Expeditions Trilogy
by Fabien Cousteau and James O. Fraioli (Author),
illustrated by Joe St.Pierre (Illustrator)
2019 Nominee
Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel
great white shark scientists sy montgomeryThe Great White Shark Scientist
Scientists in the Field Series
by Sy Montgomery, photography by Keith Ellenbogan
2016 Nominee
Middle Grade Nonfiction
How to Outswim a Shark without a Snorkel Jess KeatingHow to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel
My Life Is a Zoo, Book 2
Jess Keating
2015 Nominee
Middle Grade Fiction
Misunderstood Shark by Ame DyckmanMisunderstood Shark
by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Scott Magoon
2018 Nominee
Fiction Picture Book
Neighborhood Sharks California Farralon Islands by Katherine RoyNeighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands
written and illustrated by Katherine Roy
2014 Nominee
Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
magic treehouse merlin mission shadow of the shark mary pope osborneShadow of the Shark 
Magic Treehouse Merlin Mission, Book 25*
by Mary Pope Osborne
2015 Nominee
Early Chapter Book

*Formerly Magic Treehouse #53

science comics sharks joe floodSharks: Nature’s Perfect Hunter
Science Comics series
written and illustrated by Joe Flood
2018 Nominee
Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel
Shark Curtain Novel Chris ScoffieldThe Shark Curtain: A Novel
by Chris Scofield
2015 Nominee
Young Adult Fiction
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist
by Jess Keating, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns
2017 Finalist
Elementary Nonfiction
Shark Whisperer Tristan Hunt Sea Guardians Ellen PragerThe Shark Whisperer
Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians, Book 1
by Ellen Prager, illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo
2014 Nominee
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
See also: The Shark Rider (Book 2), 2015 Nominee, Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
Slickety Quick Skila BrownSlickety Quick: Poems about Sharks
by Skila Brown, illustrated by Bob Kolar
2016 Nominee
Poetry
surrounded by sharks michael northropSurrounded By Sharks
by Michael Northrop
2014 Nominee
Middle Grade Fiction
National Geographic ultimate book of sharks brian skerryThe Ultimate Book of Sharks
National Geographic Kids
by Brian Skerry
2018 Finalist
Middle Grade Nonfiction
Wild Ocean Sharks Whales Rays and other Endangered Sea Creatures Matt DembickiWild Ocean: Sharks, Whales, Rays, and Other Endangered Sea Creatures
edited by Matt Dembicki
2014 Nominee
Young Adult Graphic Novel

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