Wild Kratts: Shark-tastic!

Gr 1–3—Real-life brothers Martin and Chris Kratt study wildlife, and their TV series mixes live-action footage with animated cartoons of their adventures. Martin and Chris (and their cartoon counterparts) enthusiastically discover and share facts about ocean life. Each episode begins with the brothers in action, allowing viewers to see fascinating research equipment and setting up the "what if" portion of each segment, which becomes more fiction than science. As animated explorers, the Kratts are able to discover facts in imaginative and fantastical ways. Viewers will learn that an octopus can regenerate a tentacle and that dolphins have their own language. Turtles have patterned shells that help them blend into their habitat, and sharks are hunted for their fins. The cartoon brothers and their crew develop amazing technology and gadgets that allow them to talk to dolphins, swim with sea turtles, dive with sharks, and explore like octopuses. Entertaining and educational, each adventure brings new inventions and problems to solve. The animation is colorful and stylized. The only hang-up here is that some younger viewers may have trouble separating fact from fantastic fiction. This DVD has an accompanying "Step into Reading" print edition, Wild Sea Creatures: Sharks Whales and Dolphins! (Random, 2014).