A review by tami_provencher
Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman
3.0
The tone and spirit of the story are lively and mischievous. The illustrations are bold and fun. It is the story that let me down. Bob is a sea creature filming his live TV show Underwater World with Bob. Shark interrupts his broadcast repeatedly, seemingly on the verge of behaving as a shark would(attacking and/or eating a small fish, a baby seal, a human)--not something Bob wants to capture on live TV, lest he traumatize his audience.
Every time Bob calls this to Shark's attention he claims he is "misunderstood": he was not intending to do what Bob thought; it was something much more innocuous. The book is confusing. In all instances (EXCEPT ONE) Shark is NOT really misunderstood by anyone; his explanations are clearly attempts to manipulate the thinking of the other characters. So the ONE sequence where he does appear to be legitimately misunderstood, makes NO sense in the context of the story since he reverts to the other behavior immediately afterward.
Either the plot is meant to be consistent and the illustrations for that one sequence (at beach with humans) are completely opposite of the author's intent--or the apparent premise makes no sense. Either premise (Shark is actually misunderstood OR Shark is claiming to be misunderstood when he is not) would work with the bright, fun illustrations, which are full of character and deeply engaging on their own. As it is, I wanted to like this book. But I did not. It left me confused about both the plot and the characters--even after I had re-read it a few times in an effort to correct that. Disappointing.
Every time Bob calls this to Shark's attention he claims he is "misunderstood": he was not intending to do what Bob thought; it was something much more innocuous. The book is confusing. In all instances (EXCEPT ONE) Shark is NOT really misunderstood by anyone; his explanations are clearly attempts to manipulate the thinking of the other characters. So the ONE sequence where he does appear to be legitimately misunderstood, makes NO sense in the context of the story since he reverts to the other behavior immediately afterward.
Either the plot is meant to be consistent and the illustrations for that one sequence (at beach with humans) are completely opposite of the author's intent--or the apparent premise makes no sense. Either premise (Shark is actually misunderstood OR Shark is claiming to be misunderstood when he is not) would work with the bright, fun illustrations, which are full of character and deeply engaging on their own. As it is, I wanted to like this book. But I did not. It left me confused about both the plot and the characters--even after I had re-read it a few times in an effort to correct that. Disappointing.