The Great White Man-Eating Shark: A Cautionary Tale

The Great White Man-Eating Shark: A Cautionary Tale is a 1989 picture book by Margaret Mahy and illustrated by Jonathan Allen.[1] It was adapted into an award-winning 1991 animated short film.

The Great White Man-Eating Shark: A Cautionary Tale
Cover
AuthorMargaret Mahy
IllustratorJonathan Allen
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish
GenrePicture book
PublisherDial Press
Publication date
1989
Media typePrint
Pages32
ISBN978-0-8037-0749-8

Plot

Norvin is a young boy that resembles a shark and he decides to create a plastic dorsal fin to scare people away from the water at Caramel Cove. Everyone stays out of the water, out of fear, for several days. The plan backfires on Norvin when a female shark confuses him for a real shark and wants to marry him. The shark states that she would lose her temper and bite Norvin if he does not marry her, leading Norvin to swim away for his life. When Norvin appears on land while shaking, the others realize that he was never a shark. The swimmers put up a net to stop the actual shark from entering Caramel Cove, but Norvin is too scared to enter the water ever again.

Reception

A Publishers Weekly review states, "Mahy's amusing tongue-in-cheek tale meets its match in Allen's droll drawings. Norvin's wonderfully shifty eyes and the vivid expressions on the faces of his victims are certain to tickle funnybones".[2] The picture book was used as an example of irony within children's books in the book Books in the Life of a Child.[3]

The book was adapted into a 1991 animated short film with the same title. The film was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 1992 Chicago International Children's Film Festival. It won Best Children's Animated Production at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the CINE Golden Eagle Award in 1992, and the Bronze Medal from New York Festivals.[4]

References
  1. Mahy, Margaret (June 27, 1999). "The Great White Man-Eating Shark". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  2. "The Great White Man-Eating Shark". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  3. Henry Maurice Saxby (15 October 1997). Books in the Life of a Child. Macmillan Education AU. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-7329-4520-6.
  4. "The Great White Man-Eating Shark". NZ On Screen. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
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