Chris Barton

A shark and a train compete in a series of contests on a seesaw,  in hot air balloons, bowling, shooting baskets, playing hide-and-seek, and more.

Shark vs. train

Sarah Sammis

Shark vs Train by Chris Barton was a 2010 Cybils finalist. It's the story of a rivalry between a shark and train. The are constantly competing... racing, diving, playing video games and all sorts of other ways.

Sometimes shark wins. Sometimes train wins. Sometimes both do. And sometimes neither does.

The illustrations completely sell this outlandish story. When I first heard the title I ignored the book thinking it sounded too ridiculous or too gimicky. But the pictures of them competing are as silly and wonderful as a classic Warner Bros.'s cartoon.

I think we ended up reading the book three or possibly four times. The second time around my children kept score to see who ultimately won. I won't divulge the score here. Go read the book and find out for yourself!

Shark vs. train

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