The Shark in the Park (Mark Watson Children's Books)

A great family-friendly quick read for when you just want to have something with a LITTLE (but not too much) of a scare to take your mind off all the real-life scares.

I gave the book a 4 because of the pesky comma vs. period punctuation in the text. Short sentences of rhyme are linked to other full sentences instead of being given their own finality.About the book: a great adventure story is waiting within the covers of this book. I flipped quickly through the rhymed text eagerly awaiting the plot's climax and conclusion. The complimentary illustrations are full of life -- each seemingly animated despite being 2d images. I was drawn in by the art. The contrast of dark and mysterious background with vibrant characters was well executed.I stumbled a bit on a few rhymed sequences and wondered how slant the rhyme might get, but it was easy to read aloud and works perfectly for dramatic, climactic performance.Great job, gents. I am looking forward to the next book and definitely want the hardcover of this one.

Short tale about a nervous boy named Michael who is walking through the park one day on his way to school, when suddenly a shark appears. He is shocked and rushes to escape. While he loses his homework, Michael does get away this time. He spends the rest of the week studying creative approaches to defeating the shark. The story has an unexpected, clearly surprising ending.The graphics and colors used in the illustrations are fabulous. Story is written in rhyme with only a line or two on each page. The vocabulary is too complicated for very young children, who might also be frightened by a few of the illustrations. Moral of the tale is that you must face your fears. I feel that the book would be most effective for children in the six to nine age range who will be able to interpret the message and the humor.

This book is written in rhyme and is an outstanding piece of literature. The illustrations are dynamic, exciting, and depict the story in an exciting and frightful way. The reader experiences much in this book, beginning with suspense, adding wonder, encountering fright, coupled with energy, then moves into surprise, all transferring to the reader something delightful and rewarding in what’s declared to be a great read. The way the story is written it draws the reader in, and keeps them turning the pages to find out what happens next, and then next, all the way until reaching the end. The reader is satisfied and happy with the ending, but will certainly want and expect more from this author! It’s one of the most thrilling books to read where the reader does not just read words, it places them into the situation where they truly encounter the story visually, mental, and almost physically. Great work of art!

Awesome illustrations! We absolutely loved this book. Unique story and did I say incredible illustrations? The story is about how to get past your fears and it is a good lesson.Ali Julia review

The idea is unique. A shark in the park! Who would have thought of that? The pictures are good. Though simple, they give the right mood for this book. The colors are well selected for a scary story. The ending is great as well.Now here is a little task: Find the one mistake in the back cover of the book. Sorry, mistakes just hit me in my eyes. It's a simple grammatical mistake no author should make. But since it is not in the book itself it does not bother me that much. Still it's there.I did like the book!

Loved this book! The illustrations and the story are just awesome. My 6 year old thought it was very funny that a shark was in the park.

This book rhymes well, and starts off engaging, then the plot falls apart. It kinda felt that they had an idea for a book but it was half baked and they didn’t know how they were going to end it. It’s not our fav.

My 3 year old loves this, and I enjoy reading it to her.Written in rhyme, Michael (as you might guess from the title!) comes across a shark while walking to school through the park. It's a fearsome beast but Michael bravely escapes and then sets out to capture it.Overall, really good story for young children, aged around 2-5. The illustrations are wonderful - Michael's face is so expressive. My 3 year old was entranced by the story, and I had a smile at it (I loved the line when Michael's running away - "he's faster now, his homework eaten"). There were a couple of tiny niggles, eg the apostrophe in "It's fin is huge", but the fantasic and unexpected ending more than makes up for it.

Fabulous illustrations accompany this delightfully scary children's story. A little boy with big daydreams or a terrifying journey to school being chased by a giant shark? Either way, my children squeal in mock terror as the shark pursues us through the pages. There is just the right amount of scariness to keep young children hooked until the funny ending. Despite knowing the ending, my children have asked for this story over and over again, delighting in the suspense.It's a great story for adults to read out loud and I strongly recommend this book for young children. It's easy to see why it won awards.

This reminded me of some of the off-beat and probably forgotten children's greats when I was growing up - the 3D pop up book 'Dinner Time' and other books by Jan Pienkowski... 'Vampires' and 'Witches' by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins... and even Roald Dahl's 'Revolting Rhymes'.The illustration is great and the rhymes are nice and easy to get across to kids. And the story is fantastic. I read this to my nephew and his eyes were lit up the entire time. You could see that the thought of a shark speeding through a park, it's fin tearing up the turf, was just enchanting. Pretty much the same wild eyed expression you get from any high end Disney offering.The fact it also reminded me of the books from my childhood too also tell you it has a timeless quality about it, but also maybe a slightly anarchic one too.I went and re-bought the above listed books back in 2012 as presents for the children of friends and family as I thought that the magic in them just isn't reproduced any more. Well maybe it really is, as 'The Shark In The Park' is just that... magic.I thoroughly recommend this for anyone with children. It's worth the money just to see that glint in their eye.Congrats to the authors... I think this is the only release by them, but I will definitely be looking out for more of their books in the future.

Shark in the Park is bright and different, taking a simple idea and creating a brilliant view into the mind of a child. You can feel a little bit of your own childhood brought back to life in this simple poem style chidrens book. A great read for young children and their parents and grandparents. Its the most modern and exciting Kindle book I've seen, showing how books really could look with a little effort !

Such a charming story - well worth its five stars because the illustrations are fabulous. My only reservation is the age group as the rhymes are for age 3 - 6 and the hero is possibly 10 years old. Nevetheless, delightful.