An Illustrated Guide to Shark Etiquette

Sherman's Lagoon #3

by Jim Toomey

"An Illustrated Guide to Shark Etiquette" is filled with the no-holds-barred, undersea humor that has made "Sherman's Lagoon" an international success. The popular cartoon features a dim-witted shark named Sherman, his sea turtle sidekick Fillmore, and an assortment of other coral reef critters who team up to battle the encroachment of civilization on their remote tropical paradise in the South Pacific. As isolated as they are, they still manage to deal with all of modern life's "conveniences" and issues, with hilarious results. Sherman is, shall we say, not the sharpest fishhook in the tackle box. One minute he exasperates Fillmore with nonsensical ideas like video taping every moment of his day in case something happens. Then, when something really does occur--say the arrival of space aliens--Fillmore later discovers that all that was documented was the back of the cameras lens cap! Toomey has a remarkable talent for making a great white who's always on the prowl for a human snack into a lovable lump of a guy. This third "Sherman's Lagoon" collection offers another engaging assortment of comic strips and a wonderful good time for readers of all ages.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Fiction, Cartoon

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2000

About the author

Jim Toomey is an internationally published humor writer and syndicated cartoonist best known as the creator of the popular comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon, published daily in over 150 newspapers including The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. Jim has produced 28 Sherman’s Lagoon books, published by Andrews McMeel, and most recently a travel memoir, entitled Family Afloat, about his two years sailing the world’s oceans with his wife and family.

Sherman's Lagoon combines two of his lifelong interests: art and the sea. In addition to drawing his comic strip, Jim is active in ocean conservation and serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Jim has given talks at a variety of venues, including the Royal Society in London, Harvard University and twice at TED. The conservation message in his comic strip earned him the Environmental Hero Award in 2000, presented by NOAA “for using art and humor to conserve and protect our marine heritage.” Jim won the award again in 2010.

Jim holds degrees from Duke and Stanford. He currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and two children, where he tries to get his family back on a sailboat as frequently as possible but can rarely make it happen.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun look at living underwater in paradise. Sometimes the humor is a little juvenile but for the most part it is off beat and the reader comes to appreciate the personalities of the various characters. I had fun reading this collection and would recommend it.

[alexander shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely the type of book you don't want to read all in one sitting as it can get repetitive and monotonous. Taken in small chunks it's much more entertaining, and shockingly plain about who it pokes fun at.