Open Wide: Tooth School Inside

"Before the principal's announcements, will you all please stand and recite our pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to this mouth and to the dentist who takes care of us. And to the gums on which we stand, strong and healthy, with toothbrushes and toothpaste for all.'"

It's time for tooth school and Dr. Flossman is excited to meet the incoming class of 32--eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars, and twelve molars, including the four wisdom teeth. There's just so much to learn--from brushing and flossing to dentin and pulp to every student's nightmare: tooth decay!
Best read with a toothbrush in hand, this hilarious book is full of interesting facts (for instance, George Washington's teeth were not made of wood, despite popular belief) and a classroom full of quirky characters. Young readers will laugh their way to a better appreciation for those pearly whites that beckon them to brush. And from there it's just a short hop to flossing.

Through a classroom setting in which teeth are the students, presents information about the structure and care of teeth and the services provided by dentists.

From the author/illustrator of The Scrambled States of America, here is a fun-filled introduction to teeth.

"Before the principal's announcements, will you all please stand and recite our pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to this mouth and to the dentist who takes care of us. And to the gums on which we stand, strong and healthy, with toothbrushes and toothpaste for all.'"

It's time for tooth school and Dr. Flossman is excited to meet the incoming class of 32—eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars, and twelve molars, including the four wisdom teeth. There's just so much to learn—from brushing and flossing to dentin and pulp to every student's nightmare: tooth decay!

Best read with a toothbrush in hand, this hilarious book is full of interesting facts (for instance, George Washington's teeth were not made of wood, despite popular belief) and a classroom full of quirky characters. Young readers will laugh their way to a better appreciation for those pearly whites that beckon them to brush. And from there it's just a short hop to flossing.

Publishers Weekly

Dr. Flossman welcomes his 32 students--eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars and 12 molars--to class at the start of Keller's (The Scrambled States of America) disappointingly flat lesson on tooth care and trivia. While, in her first book, the states themselves delivered the facts in fun-filled chatty exchanges, here the teacher drills into his anthropomorphic pupils a smattering of tooth truths, including the physical composition of teeth, the function of primary teeth, causes of tooth decay and the importance of dental hygiene. The bulk of the narrative is silly filler (for instance, a funky-looking tooth fairy pays a visit to the school and complains that she sometimes almost suffocates trying to retrieve teeth from under pillows). The book's abundant puns and asides, many delivered by the teeth themselves, may elicit as many groans as giggles from readers. One of the standout spreads, the penultimate, highlights facts about teeth during the times of the Ancient Egyptians through to George Washington. Though the book's cluttered, quirky art is at its best in comical scenarios of ambulatory teeth in the cafeteria and at recess, the visual humor, like that of the narrative, lacks the incisive bite of Keller's earlier book. Ages 5-10. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Laurie Keller is the author and illustrator of The Scrambled States of America, which was named an ABA "Pick of the Lists," an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book for Children.

Ms. Keller is also the illustrator of Marty Frye, Private Eye by Janet Tashjian and Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions by Don Wulffson. She lives in New York City.