What If You Had Animal Teeth?

by Sandra Markle, Howard McWilliam (Illustrator)

Overview

If you could have any animal's front teeth, whose would you choose?

WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH? takes children on a fun, informative, and imaginative journey as they explore what it would be like if their own front teeth were replaced by those of a different animal. Featuring a dozen animals (beaver, great white shark, narwhal, elephant, rattlesnake, naked mole rat, hippopotamus, crocodile, and more), this book explores how different teeth are especially adapted for an animal's survival. At the end of the book, children will discover why their own teeth are just right for them. And they'll also get a friendly reminder to take good care of their teeth, because they're the only teeth they'll ever have. Each spread features a photograph of the animal using its specialized teeth on the left and a humorous illustrated image of a child using that animal's teeth on the right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545484381
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/01/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	9,881
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD930L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sandra Markle is the author of more than two hundred children's books, which have won numerous awards, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Books for Children, NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended, and ALA Notable Books for Children. She lives in Florida.

Howard McWilliam is the illustrator of I NEED MY MONSTER, by Amanda Noll, and WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN, by Jodi Moore. Howard left his career as a U.K. magazine editor and journalist in 2005 to concentrate on his growing career as a cartoonist and illustrator. He has won various awards and competitions for his work and has been published in a wide range of U.K. magazines and newspapers, including THE DAILY TELEGRAPH and THE WEEK. He lives in Kingston Upon Thames, England, with his wife, Rebecca.

Editorial Reviews

Your two front teeth have fallen out and, much to your surprise, animal teeth grow to replace them. Yikes, what does this mean? Well, if you get beaver teeth, they will be coated with iron and grow continuously—so you had better get chewing quickly. If you get shark teeth, they will be as sharp as steak knives. In fact, sharks get new teeth about every hundred days. You will not need to worry about not having teeth—ever! Elephant’s front teeth are called tusks, and male tusks can grow up to eight inches a year. They can reach up to eleven feet long. They are very strong, enabling elephants to dig up trees and carry heavy objects. Eleven different animal teeth are imagined in a kid’s mouth. This is a clever introduction to a variety of animals that is full of unusual and interesting facts as well as a reminder of how lucky we are to have the teeth we do. Humorous illustrations are interspersed with photographs of the animals featured in each spread. Reviewer: Kristin Harris; Ages 6 to 8.

Children's Literature - Kristin Harris

What if an animal's teeth grew into the space where you lost your two front teeth? Markle chews on this interesting question in this compelling combination of imagination and fact. Spread by double-page spread, she introduces animals with unusual choppers, from the beaver's iron-coated orange incisors to the camel's worn-out stubs, and explains what they're used for. Or, in the case of the narwhal's single tusk, points out that scientists don't yet know. On the left-hand side of each spread, photographs of the animals emphasize their teeth. On the right, a human child is portrayed with that animal's teeth. These film-animation–style illustrations reinforce the fantasy aspect and feature a diverse range of children. A black-haired boy in flip-flops lifts a car with his elephant tusks. A girl in a wheelchair picks up soup noodles with her flexible, naked-mole-rat front teeth. The text is presented in small chunks--a paragraph of description and a toothy fact on one page facing a paragraph about what you could do with such teeth. The reading will be a challenge for the intended audience, but the subject so compelling they won't be able to resist. A backpack-wearing boy with dark-framed glasses and dripping fangs greets a rattlesnake on the cover. Irresistible. (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews