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Never Touch series

Never Touch a Shark

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A tactile touch-and-feel book all about sharks.

You must never touch a shark . . . unless it's in this book! This ocean-themed touch-and-feel board book is great for children of all ages and fits perfectly into tiny hands. Kids will love reading the silly rhymes that warn the dangers of touching the animals--and then ignoring the advice!

Children of all ages, 0 and up, will enjoy:


The innovative and engaging silicone touch-and-feel features on every spread
The bright and vibrant illustrations
The silly and easy-to-read rhymes that involve the fun ocean creatures
Receiving this fun book as a birthday gift, stocking stuffer, Easter basket goody, road trip activity, or just because
Parents and their little ones will enjoy reading aloud Never Touch a Shark again and again.

If your child enjoys Never Touch a Shark, check out the rest of the Never Touch … series Never Touch a Polar Bear, Never Touch a Porcupine, Never Touch a Spider, Never Touch a Dinosaur, Never Touch a Dragon, Never Touch a Monster, and Never Touch a Tiger.

12 pages, Board Book

Published January 8, 2019

5 people are currently reading
127 people want to read

About the author

Rosie Greening

305 books52 followers

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Community Reviews

5 stars
204 (43%)
4 stars
145 (30%)
3 stars
100 (21%)
2 stars
16 (3%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for karen.
4,012 reviews172k followers
July 13, 2021
catching up on reviewing last year's sharkweek reads!!

i read this to celebrate shark week 2020, but sharkfans NB: while the title promises sharks, there is only ONE page of shark content:



and i'm a bit apprehensive about this message—seems to me a shark clever enough to bake would also be clever enough to bait, and this singsongy jingle might be masking a very clever trap.

this is a overall pretty mixed-messagey sort of book—cautioning readers against touching a variety of sea beasties while inviting tactile engagement with the rubbery inserts planted right on the tummies of the creature in question. are people reading this book to toddlers meant to slap away the tiny hands of toddlers from exploring the ridges and nubbles on each page, saying "NOOOOOOOO, you must NEVER touch a shark," or whatever? is this just teaching kids to question authority? to disobey? that 'no' means 'go ahead?'



the material is the same on every page, but its color and composition is different on every creature. can you identify the aquatic pal based on this rubbery cereal/skin disease?





in any case, apart from the giant shark, most of these animals are perfectly harmless to touch.





although maybe stay away from this hangry turt:



and this amorous hugger:



but a pufferfish?



go right ahead, whether it's in smooth mode, wagging its tail like a pupperfish:



or all oi punk rock:



however, this advice is sound:

you must never touch a seahorse/it's not a good idea/but if she's in a swimming race/then you can wave and cheer

because human-touches are not safe for the delicate seahorse.



in conclusion, i am confused about the conclusion:

So, never touch a sea creature who isn't in this rhyme. But if it's in a buoy band, you can join in every time!

who ISN'T in this rhyme? because we just went through pages of book-bossery about how we're not supposed to touch the featured-creatures, but following this logic, excising the negative word/negative verb:

So, never touch a sea creature who isn't in this rhyme.

undermines the entire premise of the book, non? or can we not touch ANY undersea creature? what kind of life is that, i ask you?



although, i read this in the middle of a pandemic, where encouraging those sticky little superspreaders to touch anything was wildly irresponsible, but it's all over now, right? we're totally safe from—



ew. wear a mask!

come to my blog!
Profile Image for Ashley.
335 reviews20 followers
March 7, 2022
I like these touch books because I like the quality of the touchable areas and because my kids adore touching the animals they shouldn’t (after all, how often do you get to do the exact thing your parents are telling you not to do AND not get in trouble?), but I am also confused on why a book would encourage kids to do things they’re told not to do in the first place. That said, it’s catchy and I chose to buy the book knowing what it was about.

Only other thing was the idea/cheer rhyme. I can only assume idea is pronounced ‘idear’ where the author is from?
Profile Image for Reene's  Library .
173 reviews4 followers
November 15, 2024
We were given this book by our friends Gina and Jen.

This is such a beautiful book, It's showing some of the beautiful animals we have in our ocean.

My baby girl Phoebe loves these types of books, especially because they have all these large animals and with different types of materials she just can't stop touching them and laughing.

We ended up reading this book a couple times because she just couldn't get enough of bright coloured animals and all the materials to the animals.
It's a great win for us.

Never touch a Shark 🦈
By: Clair le Chabot

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

#readingwithmybabygirl👧🏻❤️ #childrenbooks #readingtime #books #reading #bookreader
Profile Image for Jess Martin.
95 reviews
March 25, 2024
The writing is mediocre and the plot is weak, but the tactile elements of the book are very well done and fun.
Profile Image for Claire.
116 reviews2 followers
December 25, 2024
Love the feel of the book, Logan was a fan, fully attentive!
Profile Image for Kristyn Diggins.
26 reviews
October 11, 2025
idea and cheer do not rhyme and it drives me crazy that I have to read this non-rhyme over and over with my kid
Profile Image for Mary.
1,155 reviews22 followers
October 8, 2019
My daughter and I went to Barnes & Noble at the end of summer, to turn in her summer reading sheet and pick out her free book as a reward. While there, they were having story time and featured this book. At the time, I didn't have the ten dollars the store wanted, but I did find it on Amazon for $6.99, and tucked it away for a surprise gift.

My daughters are both very sensory oriented and love this book. Each page has a different rubbery texture in a different pattern to run your fingers over. The rhymes are cute and so are the illustrations. Lots of fun!
Profile Image for Mavis’s Dad.
215 reviews4 followers
February 4, 2025
We’ve entered our touch and feel books era. This preposterous page-turner has a “duh title” and then proceeds to encourage children to touch the shark - in the teeth no less.

Moral: Don’t touch sea creatures, even if the publisher encourages you to with every rubber insert.

Length: Pathetically short at just four pages. We had to read it three times just to fill a few minutes of entertainment.

Favorite Line: “You must never touch an octopus - it might ruin your day. But if it has a pack of cards, it’s fine for you to play.”

Overall impression: This book is dumb. First, it encourages kids to touch sharks. Then, it encourages kids to play cards with an octopus. He has eight tentacles! That guy is destined to cheat, even if you’re not doing poker night and playing Go Fish instead. Then there’s the turtle in a band with some crusty looking crustaceans. All of these sea creatures feel the same, so that’s even less exciting than the words. Go touch something in real life with your young one (with permission of course).
Profile Image for Roger.
1,109 reviews6 followers
March 5, 2022
When I first saw this book, I was attracted to the colors and texture on the cover. Then I disliked the idea of reading it to a baby and saying “Never touch this,” “Never touch that,” etc. I’d worry about stunting their curiosity and/or their willingness to try new things.
But of course, that’s what the book encourages. It says “don’t touch this animal” and makes it irresistible. So subversive. I loved it and bought it for my favorite 1-year-old.
Profile Image for Megan.
943 reviews
May 22, 2023
M found the shelf where all of these are held at our library today, so we read through a bunch of them.

It should be noted that any "touch and feel" book involving white surfaces will quickly become...gross looking. Also there's a rhyme about "bouy bands" which may be a positive or a negative, depending on your perspective.
170 reviews2 followers
July 13, 2023
This is my favorite "never touch" book (my kids, too!). The other two I've read are don't touch because they're mean/dangerous, this one is don't touch and then silly fun games. My criticism of the others is shallow, but the comparison i think makes this one look better. It is probably in my top 5 favorite children's books.
Profile Image for Elliotte.
2 reviews
August 27, 2020
This book is super cute, I'll give it that but my daughter doesn't really care about this one as much as her other touch and feel books. I can understand why though. It's all rubber and not a massive difference in texture. Once she touched one, she's pretty much done with it.
10 reviews
February 25, 2022
Love the series, but this isn’t my favorite one. Pufferfish is good. So is the buoy band. But the rhymes aren’t the best and the textures could be better. Still solid book on a 3 book night. On a 2 book night it would leave you wanting a little more.
1,321 reviews16 followers
May 8, 2022
Cute illustrations and I love the touch areas. Kids would be very interested in exploring them. I had a thought to put paper over them and see the design in different colors. It's fun to hold onto creativity no matter what we go through in life.
Profile Image for Viviane Elbee.
Author 4 books60 followers
November 20, 2019
Cute board book with textures to touch on each page, despite rhymes saying not to touch the sea creatures. Good for babies & young toddlers with thick cardboard pages.
Profile Image for Lil Old Bookworm.
680 reviews15 followers
January 28, 2020
My daughter loves these series of books. The colors are bright, and the book has touchable parts on each page that she enjoys feeling and keeps her interest. The story is cute too.
60 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2020
Never Touch A Shark, is a fun and colorful ocean-themed sensory book! Children can touch and feel the pages of this board book without damaging it.
Profile Image for Cherish Brown.
1,293 reviews10 followers
January 22, 2021
(5☆ Would recommend & would read again)
My son loves this book. It has very colorful pictures that are engaging. And the tactile aspect of the book helps kids to engage more into the book.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
495 reviews
April 6, 2021
This is my son's favorite book because he loves sharks at the moment. He loves to touch all the different textures on all the pages
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews

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