DON’T EAT THE BABYSITTER!

Sammy is a rather excitable shark, who tends to bite things when emotions run high; in his last outing, Don’t Eat the Teacher (2004), it was his schoolmates and supplies. So, when the favorite babysitter arrives and engages Sammy and his sister Sophie in lots of fun activities, destruction is the result. When Anna serves their favorite dinner, Kiddie Fingers, Sammy eats the supper tray. A rousing game of cards ends with the deck in Sammy’s tummy. And when a giant octopus appears on the television screen and the announcer explains that it eats small sharks, well, the outcome is obvious. Before Mom and Dad return, Sammy devours the bath, his pillow, bed and cupboard, and narrowly misses eating Anna herself. Many children will identify with Sammy’s behavior when he is excited, but there is no attempt to rein him in, just a recognition of his exuberant spirit. Will appeal to the shark lovers more than to the parents of their own wild child. (Picture book. 3-7)