Teaching
When teaching shark anatomy and conservation to kindergartners, I saw my childhood fascination once again. As I passed around a real shark tooth, the kids looked up in awe and wonder. Instead of shuddering with fear, they raised their hands wanting to know more about these creatures. As we grow, it seems we begin to turn away from parts of our world. What we are taught to dislike, we dislike. What we are taught to love, we love. In preteen years, we are intrigued, not by sharks, but by the thrillers that vilify them. The stories of Shark Week and movies like Jaws are often over-dramatized for effect, they shape our outlook on sharks nonetheless. Thus, at a very tender and formative time in one’s life, biases against sharks become engrained in us. By writing a children’s book, I hope to dispel the negative myths surrounding sharks to early readers and inspire future conservation advocates.

A fellow high school classmate, Dhruv Singh, drew beautiful illustrations to bring this book to life.

Each book purchased supports shark conservation efforts.