FIRST READING and SECOND READINGS: ILLUSTRATIONS and TEXT – WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH?

The format of this book requires a unique combination of First and Second Readings. One side of each full-page spread contains a photograph of a wild animal and factual information about the animal’s teeth. The other side contains a humorous illustration of a child with those teeth. As you open to each new animal, discuss the questions about the photograph and the illustration. Then, read the text. The last step will be to discuss the questions about the text. These three steps are to be done before you turn the page to the next animal. Using this discussion format may require two to three story times to reach the end of the book. Don’t hurry. Enjoy!
*The pages in this book are numbered.

First Page of Text:
~This girl is missing her two front teeth. Why do we lose teeth?
~Do any animals lose teeth? Discuss.
READ THE TEXT.

Pages 4 and 5:
~How are the beaver’s front teeth like the boy’s front teeth? How are they different?
~Who or what might have caused the damage that is shown in the illustration?
~Why might the boy be eating the math book? (Paper is made from wood.)
READ THE TEXT.
~chisel: a wedge-shaped tool, wide at the top, narrowing to a cutting edge at the bottom. Why might the shape of a chisel be the perfect shape for a beaver’s front teeth?
~iron: a natural element needed by most forms of life. Iron helps the body perform many important jobs. People need iron, too. How might beavers and people get the iron that their bodies need?

Pages 6 and 7:
~Why might a shark need so many teeth?
~Why might the teeth need to be so sharp?
~Discuss the meaning of the illustration. (The girl is smiling as she thinks about all of the money the Tooth Fairy will be leaving for her.)
READ THE TEXT.
~Are a great white shark’s teeth sharper than human teeth? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
~Why are a great white shark’s teeth always sharp? (New sharp teeth are always ready to slide into the place of an older tooth that has fallen out.)

Pages 8 and 9:
~How might the long tooth help the narwhal in the ocean?
~Do you think the narwhal has other teeth? Discuss.
READ THE TEXT.
~What’s the difference between a tooth and a tusk?
~How might the tusk help the narwhal survive in the ocean?

Pages 10 and 11:
~Do elephants use their tusks the same way as the boy is using his tusks? Explain why or why not.
~Do you think that the elephant has other teeth? Discuss.
~Why might the tiger look surprised?
READ THE TEXT.
~Are baby elephants born with tusks? Find evidence in the text to support your answer.
~Do all adult elephants have tusks? Find evidence in the text to support your answer.
~If you were a male elephant do you think you would be right-tusked or left-tusked?
Explain your choice.

Pages 12 and 13:
~What might the drops be that are coming from these teeth?
~How does a snake use these long fangs?
~Look at the boy’s t-shirt. Discuss the meaning of the illustration.
READ THE TEXT.
~How are fangs and tusks alike? How are they different?
~venom: a poisonous liquid. How does venom help a snake survive?

Pages 14 and 15:
~How are a naked mole rat’s teeth like a beaver’s teeth? How are they different?
~Why might this member of the rat family be referred to as naked? (no hair)
READ THE TEXT.
~How would having teeth like the naked mole rat help this girl eat?
~How do shovel-shaped teeth help the naked mole rat?
~After reading about the naked mole rat, where do you think this animal might live?

Pages 16 and 17:
~What other animal do you think has teeth similar to the vampire bat? Explain your choice.
~Why might a vampire bat need such sharp teeth?
READ THE TEXT.
~What other animal has teeth similar to the teeth of a vampire bat? How are the teeth similar? (great white sharks and snakes, very sharp teeth)
~Point to the triangle-shaped teeth in the picture.

Pages 18 and 19:
~Why might the hippopotamus not have a full set of teeth?
~Why might the girl be throwing her tooth brush and tooth paste away?
READ THE TEXT.
~Why might the girl be throwing her tooth brush and tooth paste away?
~Point to the teeth that are the long, strong pegs with very sharp edges.
~Why might the hippopotamus’s teeth be powerful weapons?

Pages 20 and 21:
~How many different sizes of teeth does the Bengal tiger seem to have? (3)
~Why might the Bengal tiger need three different sizes of teeth?
~Why might the boy be able to pull such a heavy load if he had teeth like the Bengal tiger?
READ THE TEXT.
~Locate the three kinds of teeth in the Bengal tiger’s mouth.
~Are a Bengal tiger’s teeth stronger than human teeth? Give evidence to support your answer.

Pages 22 and 23:
~Why might the crocodile need such a big mouth with so many teeth?
~What do you think is going to happen to the bird?
READ THE TEXT.
~Do you think the teeth of the boy in the illustration match the description of the crocodile’s teeth? (No. The text says that a crocodile’s front teeth are often different sizes. The boy’s teeth are all the same size.)
~Which animal in the book has teeth most like the crocodile? Give evidence to support your choice.

Pages 24 and 25:
~What kind of teeth must the girl have to bite into a pineapple?
~How might the camel’s teeth help it to survive in the desert?
READ THE TEXT.
~Who has stronger teeth, a camel or you? Explain your answer.
~How do a camel’s teeth help it to survive in the desert?

Pages 26 – 29:
~Would it be better if boys and girls had teeth like animals? Why, or why not?
READ THE TEXT.
~What words would you use to describe human teeth? Think about words to describe shape, strength, and color.
~For each animal, there is an interesting fact about the animal’s teeth. Think of an interesting fact about human teeth.

Pages 30 and 31:
~Whose tooth do you think the boy is brushing?
~The boy has beautiful, healthy teeth. What do you think he does to keep his teeth so healthy?
READ THE TEXT.
~What causes baby teeth to fall out?
~How can humans take good care of their teeth?