What Big Teeth You Have!

by Patricia Lauber

Book Overview

Explains how teeth are clues to what animals eat and how they get their food. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590475320
• ISBN13: 9780590475327
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 60 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

4 1/2* Going Dental

This book turns the potentially mundane topic of animal teeth into a fascinating one. Patricia Lauber goes beyond the expected description of incisor, canine, and molar functions by presenting lots of details and interesting facts. For example, felines have sharper teeth than canines because most big cats (e.g., lions) pounce on rather than chase after prey. Elephants, walruses, and hippos use their tusks to dig, to get around, for defense, and for hunting. The writing is clear and informal: "Perhaps you are wondering how an animal with such big teeth can close its mouth. The answer is that there are two pockets in the upper jaw. When a hippos closes its mouth, the lower canines fit into these pockets."Lauber tells how animals can be classified by their teeth, and describes a variety of animals, including bats, dinosaurs, sea mammals, fish, and reptiles. The book is aimed primarily at elementary school readers, although older children will find much of the material enjoyable and interesting. There are 60 pages, with black and white illustrations and an index.