The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums

by Edward Miller

Every child studies dental care in school and this lively picture book makes learning how to care for your teeth fun.

Taking good care of your teeth and gums is an important part of maintaining overall health. After all, you need your pearly whites to eat, smile, and talk. But what should you expect when you go to the dentist? What should you do if you lose a tooth? Full of straightforward advice and animated, colorful art, as well as some bite-sized bits of history and lore, this guide provides accessible information about taking care of your teeth. The much-needed dental advice in this book is both timely and accessible to today's children.

The "Monster Health Book", companion title to "The Tooth Book", was named a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year and earned shining reviews.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Health, Childrens, Education, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Edward Miller is the author of many nonfiction children's titles. A prolific graphic designer and longtime art director in children's publishing, Miller lives in New York City.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Kayla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tooth Book by Edward Miller is a fun, colorful guide to teeth care. This is a nonfiction children’s book for elementary school children. The author intermixes fun facts about teeth care and tradition with the history of teeth, teeth cleaning routines, and what to expect at the dentist. The illustrations in this book are bright and bold and directly correspond to the author's text beautifully. Many pages function like an illustrated glossary demonstrating my point. The author includes many fun facts throughout the book that appeal to children; some are gross, silly, and obscure. Children are intrigued by mildly inappropriate and absurd things. On the tooth decay pages, the fact that “in ancient Egypt, it was believed that a freshly dead mouse applied to a toothache would cure the pain” would grab a child’s attention. The illustration corresponding to this fact is a cartoon Egyptian with a mouse applied to the tooth. It is silly and not overly graphic for a child. The information is spread out easily throughout the book. The most essential information is in a larger, bolder font so kids can easily identify keywords. The fun facts are spread between the factual pages to regain the kids' interest every few pages. I also appreciate the diverse cultures that the author includes in the teeth facts. Again, on the tooth decay pages, fun facts are from Egypt, the U.S., and Europe to give a global perspective. On the pages after describing the concept of losing baby teeth, the facts of traditions used worldwide to dispose of baby teeth are shared; it includes traditions not held in the U.S.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a very informative book about tooth / teeth health. Written in a way kids 4+ can understand. It’s got very short and concise text. The illustrations are a little funky style wise. Otherwise, it’s a solid book for teaching your children and introducing healthy concepts to them. Would give it 4/5 stars ⭐️

[Megan Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, relevant and fun.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great informational book for kids. Covers all aspects of tooth care, including tooth anatomy, proper brushing, foods to eat and foods to avoid, and visits to the dentist.

[izzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was bored at the dentist so I read this book, and it also counts for my reading goal.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great explanation.

[Victoria Harting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations: cross-section of a tooth, names and locations of permanent teeth, how to brush properly, and hoe dentists fill cavities. Good for ages 2-7 or anyone with dentist-anxiety.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to buy and read to children often. Very well done.

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a very informative book for my 8-year-old to learn more about his teeth. My 4-year-old sat through some of it but he was a little bored.

The book talks about . . . .

Animals and their teeth. It has 10 animals (dog, cat, croc, rat, horse, pig, wild pig, snake, elephant, walrus, and a duck) and gives a brief description of each one (When a crocodile's mouth is closed, its teeth are on the outside).

The timeline of your teeth from before birth to age 13.

The inside of a tooth.

What it's like to lose your first tooth and what other countries do when they lose a tooth (In Greece, India, and China, kids throw lost teeth over the roofs of their homes.)

Different permanent teeth (incisors, canines, bicuspids, molars).

Tooth decay.

How to brush properly (in circles, not up and down).

When and how to floss.

What will happen during a routine dental check-up.

What to eat to keep your teeth healthy.

Steps to take if you have a toothache, knocked-out permanent tooth, broken tooth or bleeding gums.

It recapped with a list of things to do, and not to do.

[Chloe Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tooth Book is a great book to read to children when your school has dental health month/week at your school. The book goes into detail about the proper way to care of your teeth such as: flossing, what foods to eat, cavities, how many times you should brush etc. A fun activity that the children in my class did is that the girls were given a large cutout of a tooth that had a smiley face on it which represented the "good" tooth and the boys got a cutout of a tooth that had a angry face on it which represented the "bad" tooth. The girls then had to cut out pictures of food from magazines that were good for your teeth and the boys had to cutout pictures of foods that were not good for your teeth.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my practicum students wants to be a dentist (like his sister), so while at the Auburn library I looked for books on dentistery for him. I couldn't bring myself to read the other two I got, which were increasingly more difficult, but I read through this one. It was all pretty much info that I knew, but would be informative to a young child. I thought that some of the book was a little much, like true sugar is bad for your teeth, but I didn't like the idea of it making kids feel like they can't eat that type of stuff often at all. But, what do you expect from a book about tooth care? The pictures were pretty good, and I liked how it talked about animal teeth as well.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and thorough book on teeth care for younger kids. Bright and bold illustrations. Websites included in back of book. Covers a myriad of topics including timeline, different cultures lost teeth traditions and vitamins beneficial to teeth.

[Makayla Jaros · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous informational children's book. The illustrations are brightly colored which catch the reader's attention very well. The information is very basic can easily be understood by young children.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informational book about teeth, including facts about animal teeth, a tooth timeline, and proper care of teeth. Did you know Vitamin B is important for healthy gums? Colorful illustrations and bite-sized factoids of dental history make this book accessible to elementary children.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a lot of really great information, and it really made my kids want to brush their teeth!

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wordy informational book that using different drawing concepts to convey the message of the importance of good dental hygiene.

Used for "Let's Go to the Dentist!" storytime-January, 2010.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aimed more at primary grades but would be okay for younger.

[Satin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for students to read when their teeth begin to fall out. I loved the kid friendly information that the book provides, and the illustrations.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable way to teach children about teeth. Loved the illustrations and the bits of folklore and traditions from other countries!

[Amanda Packer · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a cute little book, I even learned things I didn't know!

[Anum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the illustrations! Such a great book for kids (ages 5 and older) to understand the different kinds of teeth we have, how dental caries form, what a typical dentist visit is like, etc.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information for children to learn during a lesson on teeth! Gives you tips and advice even I didn't know!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this and learned some new things that I didn't know about teeth. I liked the simple historical facts and the illustrations are engaging.

[Carren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Holland's friend

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Belongs in every dentist office
Not for an early childhood classroom- not organized well
calm the crazy