Teeth

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Collard explores the types and function of teeth in a wide variety of creatures. Each page has a simple, informative statement about teeth in large type, followed by eight or nine lines of information in smaller type about the teeth of one particular creature, for example "Tusks are teeth" followed by "Atlantic Walrus. A walrus's tusks grow…" The alkyd illustrations fill most of the space with naturalistic images that focus on each animal's dental work. Most often we see the teeth in action, as an elephant grasps a bunch of grass or a hyena chews on a zebra's leg. Occasionally we just see the teeth, as a hippo simply opens wide to display a set of growing incisors and canines. A grinning chimp shows surprisingly white, very human-looking teeth, with a note that this is a friendly grimace. There is information on the traditions about baby teeth in many countries. A glossary and a list of resources are included. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Kirkus Reviews

In this natural companion to Beaks! (2002), illustrated by Robin Brickman, Collard introduces types of teeth as well as the many uses to which they are put by wild animals, from stabbing or crushing food to displaying emotion. He also discusses numbers of teeth and how they grow, the differences between teeth and horns or antlers and the various places besides jaws that they grow in some fish. Supplemented by the occasional skull or inside close-up, Saroff's big, naturalistic head shots depict a wide variety of wildlife, artfully angled, often looking directly at viewers and, for the meat-eaters, with toothy mouths crowd-pleasingly agape. Dramatically illustrated and with information that is deftly pitched to the intended audience's level, this makes a fine choice amid the multitude of like-themed titles for either pleasure or purpose reading. (Nonfiction. 7-9)