BABY SHARK!

A trip to the aquarium triggers a “Baby Shark” flash mob.

A parent and child enter the aquarium hand in hand. “Will we see a shark?” the child asks. “Will we see a baby shark?” Of course they do: A cutely snub-nosed (and biologically impossible) shark pup smiles from the tank…and the earworm takes over. “Baby shark! Doo doo doo doo doo doo!” The verse repeats twice more, the “doo doo doo” printed in wavy lines, before it is punctuated by a concluding “Baby shark!” With the turn of the page, it is joined by “Mama shark!” and another child walks up. Cue “doo doo doo.” Then Daddy shark appears, and a third child joins the group, pointing as the earlier two make the “Baby Shark” hand motions. Grandma shark (distinguished by faint wrinkles around the lips, as is Grandpa on the next page—perhaps they forgot their dentures?) swims up next, and then all are seen grinning like the “hungry sharks” they are before the children, now numbering five, “run away!” to join their caregivers, “safe at last!” Kudos to Lewis for creating a plausible visual narrative and peopling it with diverse children. Like all the other “Baby Shark”–themed books in the current tsunami, however, it relies heavily on its readers’ preexisting familiarity with the song for its success.

An ephemeral but pleasantly coherent take on the viral hit