 |
||||||
| for Open Wide: Tooth School Inside | ||||||
| Nick Jr. Magazine “Best Book of the Year Amazon.com “Editor’s Top Ten Pick” 2000 School Library Journal Gr 1-4-This wacky book about dental hygiene begins with Dr. Flossman teaching his class, a set of personified teeth sitting at their desks looking "clean" and "bright." After the pledge of allegiance "-to this mouth and to the dentist who takes care of us," attendance is taken, and each tooth is named and identified. The teacher lectures about the parts of a tooth, primary vs. permanent teeth, and even the Tooth Fairy. Then the class is divided into groups: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars, for lunch. Following a lesson about tooth decay, reports on "teeth throughout history" are presented. Then the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. Students are advised to "rinse, gargle, and spit in a cup!-And don't forget to brush!" as they run haphazardly from the room. Two short-answer quizzes about the lesson are appended. The language and humor are somewhat sophisticated, but most youngsters will get a good laugh from a day in "Tooth School." The busy layout features lots of appealing color and animation rendered in acrylics, colored pencils, markers, and collage. Alice McGinty's Staying Healthy: Dental Care (Rosen, 1997) is a more straightforward and serious approach to the subject. For a truly painless, lighthearted look at the subject, open Open Wide and smile.-Elizabeth Maggio, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Booklist Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Using the same hilarious collage format she used in her popular The Scrambled States of America (1998), Keller presents dental basics through an imagined day at Tooth School. On wildly busy pages filled with facts and comical asides, Dr. Flossman and his 32 young pupils (representing the appropriate break down of incisors, canines, premolars, and molars) explore tooth decay and care, using creative devices such as student book reports to deliver the facts and some fiction (a video about Toothland, The Tooth Fairy's amusement park, for example). There's plenty of information, cleverly woven into laugh-out-loud humor for all ages: pictures of Dracula (before and after braces) for younger children; meditation and self-help humor for older ones; in-jokes for adults. Silly quizzes review the text ("Tooth decay is caused by: a) bacteria and germs; b) slugs and worms; c) bad perms"). The chaos of the book's full-page spreads perfectly captures the manic energy of a school day, and will leave kids giggling and ready to learn more. (Reviewed May 1, 2000) Gillian Engberg. From Booklist, May 2000, Copyright © American Library Association. Children's Literature Laurie Keller's trademark is funny, nonfiction books with a sense of story. In her first book, The Scrambled States of America, disgruntled states swap positions. Now she delivers dental facts with inspired invention. The book is a perfect blend of double meanings, lots of information, witty words, well-designed illustrations, and a perspective that lets readers imagine life from a tooth's point of view. At the story's start, Dr. Flossman finds all his students are present—8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, 12 molars, and 4 wisdom teeth. Notice how Keller ingeniously sneaks in types and numbers of teeth? Children won't. They will be captured from Keller's pledge of allegiance to this mouth and to the dentist who takes care of us to the silly multiple choice quiz at the book's end. This book has humor that will make adults smile as Dr. Flossman, concerned about his student's deep fears, prepares them by teaching nine common reactions to cavities which include depression, self-pity and denial. The many details and wild layout require a close look for best humor results. Keller's success in humanizing the states was amazing; now her treatment of teeth will leave fans wondering what she will tackle and tickle next. 2000, Holt, $16.95. Ages 7 up. Reviewer: Susie Wilde Children's Literature Traditional book format and illustration have been tossed out the window, as Dr. Flossman greets his class of 32 teeth (eight incisors, four canines, etc.) at Tooth School. Mixed in with zany antics and nutty comments is a wealth of information here on teeth and their care, including the role of the dentist and orthodontist, some dental history, and a silly quiz. From the cover's helter-skelter design, child-like calligraphy, and really cartoon-y characters, one gets a preview of things to come. Even the end pages are filled with stuff of all kinds. As disconnected as text and pictures may seem at first glance, there is a definite cohesiveness to the story and a surprisingly effective delivery of information. The slapstick humor and almost shocking mixed-media visuals are sure-fire ways of getting and keeping the attention of youngsters. 2000, Henry Holt and Company, Ages 5 to 8, Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz Kirkus Reviews Painless dentistry is lightened with a dose of laughing gas. Fans of Keller's wacky The Scrambled States of America (1999) will find this a fact-filled, sure-fire, kid-centric introduction to a familiar staple of the elementary school curriculum: dental health. Here, Keller's inspired conceit—a "tooth" school "class" presided over by the single-minded Dr. Flossman—offers almost endless opportunities for kid-pleasing puns and clever classroom asides. The book begins with roll call of the "incoming" students: thirty-two teeth (eight incisors, four canines, eight premolars, twelve molars, and four wisdom). The "school" day then progresses through typical classroom routines: announcements ("GO CHOMPERS"), a lesson featuring a cross-section chart of a tooth, a student report on "Primary Teeth," an "informative" video on the Tooth Fairy, group process (incisors together please!), lunch (followed by brushing and flossing, of course), a lesson on tooth decay and cavities, and student reports on the history of dentistry. Check out the funny but fact-based multiple choice and True/False tests (Keller thoughtfully provides the answers). Dynamic book design mimics the untutored artwork of a particularly fun-loving and terribly talented ten-year-old. Keller employs a busy mix of stamp-pad art, ruled paper, notebook sheets, acrylics, colored pencil, crayon, marker drawings, and collage. Spiced with ample cartoony little asides (featuring appropriately costumed, fully ambulatory, and pleasingly smart-mouthed talking teeth), Keller's art delivers the "message" while entertaining, inviting close study and provoking belly laughs. A perfect gift for the dentist who has everything. Every waiting room (and library) needs a copy. (Picture book. 8-10) 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. |
||||||