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What If You Had
What If You Had Animal Feet?
If you could have any animal's feet, whose would you choose? WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL FEET? is the next book in the successful WHAT IF series by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Howard McWilliam, following the very popular WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH? and WHAT YOU IF HAD ANIMAL HAIR? This latest edition teaches kids about the amazing variety of feet in the animal kingdom and their specialty functions! From cheetahs' fast feet to mountain goats' nimble climbing hooves, to flies' sticky feet! Each animal profile includes a photo as well as illustrations of kids with animal feet that are sure to make kids laugh!
32 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2015
48 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Markle
288 books92 followersSandra Markle is the author of more than two hundred children's books, which have won numerous awards, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Books for Children, NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended, and ALA Notable Books for Children. She lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and frequently travels to schools sharing her program "Sandra Markle's Books Are REAL Adventures."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
December 17, 2016
Perfectly answers the question it sets out to answer and clues young readers into as to why certain animals have the anatomy that they have. However, millipede feet will haunt my dreams!
March 9, 2018
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright: 2015
Genre: Non-Fiction
Guided Reading Level: M
Lexile Measure: AD950L
DRA Level: 24
Grades: 1- 4
Synopsis:
"What If You Had Animal Feet?" is part of the series What If? By Sandra Markle. Other books in the series include "What If You Had Animal Hair?" and "What if You Had Animal Teeth?" This book explores the amazing variety of feet in the animal kingdom. With each turn of a page, students learn about a different animal, what makes their feet special, and things a person could do if they had those feet. Some of my favorites are the housefly, cheetah, mountain goat, and white rhinoceros. The illustrations are extremely creative and funny. My first grade students absolutely loved this book! When I read it, we had been learning about “I Wonder” statements and asking questions while reading, and I had them wonder about what they think a person could do with those feet before looking at the page. The students got very excited and laughed a lot at the absurd things humans could do if they had animal feet. It’s a great way to make learning about animals more relatable and fun.
Teaching Ideas:
1) After reading the book, What If You Had Animal Feet?, students decide which feet they would want to have and write an opinion piece explaining reasons why. This is a really fun and unique topic for students to create an opinion piece about.
Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1:
Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
2) Students could pick a favorite animal not in the book and write an additional section that could be added to it. The writing piece could be modeled after the book and would include a description of the animal and the unique traits of its feet, a fact, and description of what a person could do if they had those feet. They could also create an illustration to match it where they draw themselves with the feet of the animal they chose to write about.
Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points.
Copyright: 2015
Genre: Non-Fiction
Guided Reading Level: M
Lexile Measure: AD950L
DRA Level: 24
Grades: 1- 4
Synopsis:
"What If You Had Animal Feet?" is part of the series What If? By Sandra Markle. Other books in the series include "What If You Had Animal Hair?" and "What if You Had Animal Teeth?" This book explores the amazing variety of feet in the animal kingdom. With each turn of a page, students learn about a different animal, what makes their feet special, and things a person could do if they had those feet. Some of my favorites are the housefly, cheetah, mountain goat, and white rhinoceros. The illustrations are extremely creative and funny. My first grade students absolutely loved this book! When I read it, we had been learning about “I Wonder” statements and asking questions while reading, and I had them wonder about what they think a person could do with those feet before looking at the page. The students got very excited and laughed a lot at the absurd things humans could do if they had animal feet. It’s a great way to make learning about animals more relatable and fun.
Teaching Ideas:
1) After reading the book, What If You Had Animal Feet?, students decide which feet they would want to have and write an opinion piece explaining reasons why. This is a really fun and unique topic for students to create an opinion piece about.
Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1:
Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
2) Students could pick a favorite animal not in the book and write an additional section that could be added to it. The writing piece could be modeled after the book and would include a description of the animal and the unique traits of its feet, a fact, and description of what a person could do if they had those feet. They could also create an illustration to match it where they draw themselves with the feet of the animal they chose to write about.
Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points.
Read
June 22, 20151. Legs: The Tale of a Very Small Meerkat by Sarah J. Dodd, Giusi Capizzi (Illustrator)
2. I chose this book because it it an animal book that has to do with legs! This book is a fictional story where a meerkat escapes the zoo and sees a ton of different kinds of legs! The theme of the book will go great alongside the nonfiction book about animal feet and how they are different than humans. The meerkat is a very small and very cute animal who is exploring!
3. The text structure of What If You Had Animal Feet? is combination. It is mostly descriptive because each page has information about a different animal's foot. It also has a couple of sections about human feet at the end of the book. But it also has a little cause and effect in there too. On each section about an animal's feet, it says "if you had ____'s feet then....." It goes into if then that.
4. I would use the strategy of activating prior knowledge with these two books. My third graders should be very familiar with animals and how many feet and legs they have. We can talk about different animals and what we already know about the different types of feet and legs. By activating their background knowledge students will be able to connect what they already know with new information (Camp, 2000, p. 407). This connection will allow them to internalize and remember new information for the future.
2. I chose this book because it it an animal book that has to do with legs! This book is a fictional story where a meerkat escapes the zoo and sees a ton of different kinds of legs! The theme of the book will go great alongside the nonfiction book about animal feet and how they are different than humans. The meerkat is a very small and very cute animal who is exploring!
3. The text structure of What If You Had Animal Feet? is combination. It is mostly descriptive because each page has information about a different animal's foot. It also has a couple of sections about human feet at the end of the book. But it also has a little cause and effect in there too. On each section about an animal's feet, it says "if you had ____'s feet then....." It goes into if then that.
4. I would use the strategy of activating prior knowledge with these two books. My third graders should be very familiar with animals and how many feet and legs they have. We can talk about different animals and what we already know about the different types of feet and legs. By activating their background knowledge students will be able to connect what they already know with new information (Camp, 2000, p. 407). This connection will allow them to internalize and remember new information for the future.
June 4, 2021
Non-Fiction Informational, with a twist
3-6
Fun, easy to read book that asks: what if you woke up one day with the feet of an animal, what would you look like and what would it enable you to do differently? There are eleven animals with 2-page spreads. Each spread has two photos of the animal, a paragraph describing the animal's feet, a fun fact at the bottom, then a full page illustration of a kid with feet like the animal's feet.
After the eleven animals, there are several pages about it's good to have our own human feet, followed by two pages of facts about human feet (unique toe prints, number of bones in each foot, how to take care of your feet, etc.)
This book explains what makes some feet "paws," "talons" and "hoofs."
Animals included: kangaroo, housefly, green basilisk lizard (water runner), cheetah, gray wolf, duck-billed platypus, barn owl, aardvark, African giant millipede, mountain goat, white rhino,
Text set ideas: animal adaptations, human body
Materials note: the paper of the pages in this series is incredibly easy to tear, very thin.
3-6
Fun, easy to read book that asks: what if you woke up one day with the feet of an animal, what would you look like and what would it enable you to do differently? There are eleven animals with 2-page spreads. Each spread has two photos of the animal, a paragraph describing the animal's feet, a fun fact at the bottom, then a full page illustration of a kid with feet like the animal's feet.
After the eleven animals, there are several pages about it's good to have our own human feet, followed by two pages of facts about human feet (unique toe prints, number of bones in each foot, how to take care of your feet, etc.)
This book explains what makes some feet "paws," "talons" and "hoofs."
Animals included: kangaroo, housefly, green basilisk lizard (water runner), cheetah, gray wolf, duck-billed platypus, barn owl, aardvark, African giant millipede, mountain goat, white rhino,
Text set ideas: animal adaptations, human body
Materials note: the paper of the pages in this series is incredibly easy to tear, very thin.
November 19, 2017
Nonfiction
Summary:
This book describes the different feet or hooves of a dozen animals and how it is helpful for that specific species. It teaches students with words and images of how feet can help with an animals’ survival. The end of the book helps students understand why their feet are the way they are.
Evaluation:
This is a fun and educational book for students. It has a cartoon component that draws the attention of the student but includes real images of animals with fun facts. I really enjoyed the thought of having platypus flippers… I would be a wonderful swimmer!
Teaching Ideas:
This is great when introducing non-fiction texts in the classroom. Another activity could be opinion writing, prior to reading the story students would choose an animal that they would like to switch feet with. Not only would they write an opinion piece explaining why, they would also include an illustration.
Summary:
This book describes the different feet or hooves of a dozen animals and how it is helpful for that specific species. It teaches students with words and images of how feet can help with an animals’ survival. The end of the book helps students understand why their feet are the way they are.
Evaluation:
This is a fun and educational book for students. It has a cartoon component that draws the attention of the student but includes real images of animals with fun facts. I really enjoyed the thought of having platypus flippers… I would be a wonderful swimmer!
Teaching Ideas:
This is great when introducing non-fiction texts in the classroom. Another activity could be opinion writing, prior to reading the story students would choose an animal that they would like to switch feet with. Not only would they write an opinion piece explaining why, they would also include an illustration.
March 26, 2023
در نگاه کلی با یک کتاب علمی رو به رو هستیم
تفاوت مهمش با دیگر کتاب های این حوزه، بهره گیری و فعال کردن قوه تخیل کودکان است.
یعنی مثلا هم ویژگی های پای مگس را می خوانیم و هم بچه ای را میبینیم که پای مگس را دارد و برعکس از سقف آويزان است و چهره خندانی هم دارد.
خواننده کودک هم خودش را جای این کودک می گذارد که اگر چنین پایی داشت چه کارها که از پسش بر نمی امد.
قسمت انتهای کتاب هم جالب است، کودک می تواند انتخاب کند که داشتن پای کدام حیوان را ترجیح می دهد ، اما در پایان می توان به این نتیجه رسید که پای کنونی خودش از همه بهتر است و او که این پا را به او داده خیلی خوب این را می داند و می دانسته😊
https://taaghche.com/book/145885
تفاوت مهمش با دیگر کتاب های این حوزه، بهره گیری و فعال کردن قوه تخیل کودکان است.
یعنی مثلا هم ویژگی های پای مگس را می خوانیم و هم بچه ای را میبینیم که پای مگس را دارد و برعکس از سقف آويزان است و چهره خندانی هم دارد.
خواننده کودک هم خودش را جای این کودک می گذارد که اگر چنین پایی داشت چه کارها که از پسش بر نمی امد.
قسمت انتهای کتاب هم جالب است، کودک می تواند انتخاب کند که داشتن پای کدام حیوان را ترجیح می دهد ، اما در پایان می توان به این نتیجه رسید که پای کنونی خودش از همه بهتر است و او که این پا را به او داده خیلی خوب این را می داند و می دانسته😊
https://taaghche.com/book/145885
January 23, 2019
A good kids book for what it is. Unique and informative, plenty of material. Fun, creative, inclusive
artwork. No story, just some animal facts and a little 'what if' blurb each page.
This is a nitpicky complaint, but a some of the abilities the book attributes to 'feet' are actually the entire body of the animal. Example a cheetah's feet do not make it fast, it's the entire structure of its body, especially it's power-to-mass ratio. You would not be able to outrun a bus with just cheetah feet.
artwork. No story, just some animal facts and a little 'what if' blurb each page.
This is a nitpicky complaint, but a some of the abilities the book attributes to 'feet' are actually the entire body of the animal. Example a cheetah's feet do not make it fast, it's the entire structure of its body, especially it's power-to-mass ratio. You would not be able to outrun a bus with just cheetah feet.
November 6, 2020
Date read: 11/05/2020
Date of review: 11/05/2020
Genre: Informational
Grade Range: 4-6
This is a great informational text (and series) about different animal adaptations, specifically about their feet. Basically, each animal's section has a description of what their particular feet do to help them live, and then there's a fun imaginative example of what it would be like for a student have that type of foot. Overall, the book succeeds at making the different animals and their feet seem COOL.
Date of review: 11/05/2020
Genre: Informational
Grade Range: 4-6
This is a great informational text (and series) about different animal adaptations, specifically about their feet. Basically, each animal's section has a description of what their particular feet do to help them live, and then there's a fun imaginative example of what it would be like for a student have that type of foot. Overall, the book succeeds at making the different animals and their feet seem COOL.
May 18, 2017
This non-fiction book showcases all kinds of different animal feet (and also a little bit of information about the animal itself as well). I really enjoyed the illustrations. I also liked the way it encourages kids to use their imaginations to think about what it would be like to live in those animal's shoes (pun intended). Of course, one has to wonder about the actual physics of having limbs like a fly or centipede but otherwise very interesting and informative.
November 18, 2017
Summary:
This story explores facts about animals through a make believe story line. This story tells about animals and their uses of feet through the eyes of what a child would do with animal feet!
Evaluation:
This book is valuable in the fact that it makes nonfiction exciting and fun to read. Students are exposed to the possibility of loving nonfiction.
Teaching Points:
This book would be great to teach about integrating nonfiction in your writing.
This story explores facts about animals through a make believe story line. This story tells about animals and their uses of feet through the eyes of what a child would do with animal feet!
Evaluation:
This book is valuable in the fact that it makes nonfiction exciting and fun to read. Students are exposed to the possibility of loving nonfiction.
Teaching Points:
This book would be great to teach about integrating nonfiction in your writing.
June 11, 2019
This is a great nonfiction book for storytime or for sharing love of animals with youngsters! Each two page spread explains facts about the animal’s feet as well as a beautiful picture of the animal and on the opposite page is an artist’s rendering of a human child with the feet of the animal. The child is shown doing something extraordinary that could be accomplished with the animal feet. This would be fun for children and it’s even fun for adults!
May 2, 2021
So far I’ve liked every book in this series I’ve read and I think most of this applies to all of them. This series is nonfiction and this tells you true facts about animals.
This would work well for many activities/projects to go with it in the classroom. Students could write about which one they would like and why. Many different crafts and drawings could be done. Older kids could research an animal not in the book and create their own entry. This could work for all ages in elementary school, but I would definitely gear the assignment to their age and level.
Grades: K-3
This would work well for many activities/projects to go with it in the classroom. Students could write about which one they would like and why. Many different crafts and drawings could be done. Older kids could research an animal not in the book and create their own entry. This could work for all ages in elementary school, but I would definitely gear the assignment to their age and level.
Grades: K-3
May 25, 2018
S really loves these books right now. He checked this one out from the school library this week. He finds the illustrations really humorous and also enjoys the animal facts. I can definitely see the appeal as well and think this series is well-done and perfect for its target audience.
May 3, 2020
This book teaches children about animals' feet and what it would be like to have those feet ourselves. It does so in a fun way and kids will love that they get to use their imagination while reading this bookk!
Read
July 18, 2022From cheetahs' fast feet to mountain goats' nimble climbing hooves, to flies' sticky feet! Each animal profile includes a photo as well as illustrations of kids with animal feet that are sure to make kids laugh!
August 31, 2023
Review from my 6 year old: It was a very good and fun book.I learned from the book that even if you had animal feet it would not make you run faster or play better. But if you have it for one day it could be good and nice.
June 13, 2017
Fun book! My 2nd graders enjoyed listening and looking at the pictures in this one! This book was also checked out by individual students quite a few times.
October 11, 2017
Read with my 9yo
December 1, 2017
Love that this is a silly informational picture book
January 15, 2019
We are working our way through all of these books. They are good, have interesting facts and fun illustrations.
July 6, 2019
Another terrific nonfiction read for elementary children.
December 21, 2019
I learned a lot about animal feet today while reading this to a grandchild. 😊
January 21, 2020
I LOVE this series of books...my grade 2/3 students are absolutely blown away by the fact a book can be both fiction AND non-fiction at the same time. I purchased the entire series!!
April 28, 2020
The book was so amazing!! We had to get the whole series!
November 12, 2020
This book compares different animal size feet with humans feet. It also shows all different kinds of animal feet and their sizes.
March 1, 2021
These are just really great books. You learn a lot about the various animals and there’s plenty of humour and then some info on humans at the end as well.
September 25, 2021
Delightful mix of educational, biological information about animals and whimsical artistry.
Want to read
October 13, 2021Goldfinch Nominee 2020-2021
November 4, 2023
A fun story of a what if you had animal feet. The book has fun illustrations and additional facts about the different animal feet portrayed.
November 9, 2023
Cute little fact book. Daughter enjoyed it as did I.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews