Never Take a Shark to the Dentist

by Judi Barrett, John Nickle (Illustrator)

There are many things you should never, ever, ever do.

Like sit next to a porcupine on the subway (ouch!). Or hold hands with a lobster (double ouch!). Or take a shark to the dentist (triple ouch!).

Bestselling author JUDI BARRETT and imaginative illustrator JOHN NICKLE give us a raucous look at the perils of taking giraffes to the movies, goats to the library, and pigs out to lunch...and other such silly stuff.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Storytime, School

34 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2008

About the author

Judi Barrett is an American author and art teacher best known for imaginative children’s picture books, most notably Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. Raised in Brooklyn, she trained in advertising design before working as a freelance designer and later turning to education, teaching art and woodworking to young children while pursuing further studies in early childhood education and studio arts. She frequently collaborated with illustrator Ron Barrett, creating several popular titles together. Her whimsical storytelling, blending humor with inventive concepts, has made her books enduring favorites, some adapted for film, while she has continued teaching and writing.

Reviews

[Stephanie]

While I am not sure my kids totally understand why this book is so funny, they always choose to read it at night. They love the page with the giraffe at the movies and the ants at the picnic.

[Nicola]

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

This was a random picture book that I chose. I didn't like it. I didn't like the repetitive 'never' through the book or the message that gives and Miss 3 ASD didn't understand the humour.

[Dolly]

Cute book of illustrated examples of things never to do (and one always do). They all involve animals and most are pretty obvious, but a couple needed explanation for our girls. They really liked it and we read it twice the same night.

[Remya]

My three year old had a hard time figuring out the funny side of the book.may be it is for the older kids!

[Meghan Hunt]

Wonderfully silly!

[Becky B]

The narrator advises the reader certain things to never do with certain animals, such as sitting next to a porcupine on the subway or take a centipede shoe shopping.

An imaginative list of things you should never do that seems very sound advice. I can see this being a great writing prompt, and getting kids to think of other things you should never do with certain animals or tagging off the little twist in the last spread, what are some things you should always do with other animals. The illustrations fit the tone of the book spectacularly. Short, funny, and a good example of situational humor.

[Kat Harrison]

From the author of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" comes "Never Take a Shark to the Dentist". The sparse text is witty on its own two feet, but really comes to life with John Nickle's incredibly nuanced art. The illustrations are as detailed and vibrant as animated movie stills - and chock full of funny. A great book for animal lovers or kiddos that ponder, "What if?" to some of life's silliest quandaries.

[Kristin Nelson]

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing and its sequel were much better books. This book lets the illustrations show the reasons but I miss the words Judi Barrett chose to explain the situations in the other books. The giraffe at the movies page is pretty neat though!

[Marissa Ellis]

I gave this book five stars because it is one of those books that makes you think bigger. As you are reading through you feel like you have no clue what could possibly be on the next page, and when you see what it is a feeling of "duh, I totally should have thought of that" washes over you. This happens throughout the whole book which is fun.

Six+1: Ideas

Guided Reading: I
Lexile: 430

[BlackhamBooks]

I liked this ... I can just imagine the brainstorming of what animal characteristics would make certain things difficult. Like big sharp shark teeth at the dentist, as indicated in the title. Some were more obvious and funny than others. The giraffe featured a fold-out page. The racoon one was another favorite. Fun and silly illustrations to go along with the sparse/simple text.

[Mikaela Fu]

This book is a fun book about taking the shark to do things. It could possibly help ease some of the kids nerves when doing things like going to the dentist.

Lexile Measures- AD430L
Guided Reading- I

Six Traits plus One-Presentation, Word Choice and Sentence Fluency

[Nancy]

Can't wait to write with kids after reading this. (All the "answers" are in the illustrations. I am wondering if we'll be able to write without them, or if we'll feel the need to say, "because you will be crushed/hurt/ruined" etc. -- and if that will matter.)

[Laura Aldridge]

Some humorous illustrations and scenarios. But I’m really struggling to understand the point of this book. Basically focuses on all the negative aspects of various animals and then one that you can exploit for your own benefit?

Nah. Skip this one.

[Summitsonthetop]

This is by the author of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

This would be a fun one to read, and then ask kids to tell you their own "never ....." ideas and rules, and illustrate them. Fun language arts lesson! I would use this book with all ages, even though it is a picture book.

[Stacy]

I read this book to my 6 year old son and we thought this book was funny! We enjoyed laughing together. This book is so cute and clever and definitely put a smile on our face at our morning reading time!

[Luisa Knight]

Here’s a bunch of funny things not to do with certain animals; although it ends with including one thing you should do.

One picture has a open up flap which is fun.

Ages: 2 - 5

Cleanliness: one otter is pictured in underwear.

[Jessica]

This was actually pretty good. (I've read a lot of duds in the humor section so far.) You read the "never do this it that" page, and then you look at the picture page. The pictures are very witty. I chuckled at the porcupine quills and the kissing rabbits at the movie theatre.

[Shannon]

This book is just ok. The illustrations are cute, and it's short enough that it will probably hold a child's attention.

[Liz]

Not great for reading out loud--better for reading alone.

[Mirko Liang]

Nice

[Tracy Schillemore]

This book tells the children all kinds of things that you should not do with different kinds of animals. It has very little text. I am not sure if a very young audience would get it though.

[Karine]

Développer l'imaginaire

[Michelle]

Very clever! Anything involving a shark is something I love.

[Sonja]

Loved, loved this book! Made me laugh! Cute illustrations! I agree with all that is said!

[R. G. Nairam]

Some pages of this were way funnier than others.

[Ruth Ann]

Advice for the young!

[Joey Starr]

I thought this book was hilarious. I am not sure how I would use this in a lesson for a class but I would definitely just have it around for a free read. I thought the images are what made this story. Combining these illustrations with few amount of words allowed for the story to be told through images more than words.

Guided reading: I
DRA Level: 16
Traits: sentence fluency, organization

[Emma Horn]

The creative structure of this book, illustration, and repetition helps young readers follow along and anticipate the words on the pages. The structure of this book would be great for students to copy in their own writing.

Organization
Sentence Fluency

LEXILE: AD290L
ATOS: N/A

[Ashley]

Funny, but not much to read.

[Kyrstin Elizabeth]

Not at all what I expected.