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What If You Had
What If You Had Animal Eyes?
If you could have any animal's eyes, whose would you choose? What if you woke up one morning and your eyes weren't yours? What If You Had Animal Eyes? -- the next imaginative book in the What If You Had series -- explores what would happen if you looked in the mirror and saw a pair of animal eyes instead of your own! From the chameleon's eyes that can point in different directions, to the colossal squid's eyes that shine in the dark, discover what it would be like if you had these special eyes -- and find out why your eyes are just the right ones for you!
32 pages, Hardcover
Published August 29, 2017
54 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Markle
290 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 36 reviews
May 18, 2018
Summary: This story gives true facts about different animals (specifically their eyes) but adds a bit of fun in that the pictures of the children throughout the story have each of these eyes so there are many silly pictures.
Reflection: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book!!! It has a perfect balance of non-fiction and fictional fun!
Use in Class: The non-fiction facts that are presented would be perfect for introducing a unit on the eye. The students would love it just because of the silly pictures! You could do a comparison of how each of the eyes are the same/different from human eyes. There are several facts about each animal and some I didn't even know!
Reflection: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book!!! It has a perfect balance of non-fiction and fictional fun!
Use in Class: The non-fiction facts that are presented would be perfect for introducing a unit on the eye. The students would love it just because of the silly pictures! You could do a comparison of how each of the eyes are the same/different from human eyes. There are several facts about each animal and some I didn't even know!
August 23, 2025
I love learning about animals, and this book has neat facts about animal's eyes.
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February 1, 2023Text-to Teaching Connection: What is a reading response activity that you can do in a classroom with children in response to the book?
What If You Had Animal Eyes?
This is a great science engaging story. This book would be a great way to introduce animal adaptations. Throughout the story, the author does a phenomenal job of explaining the importance of how certain animals use their eyes. She keeps the young readers engaged by using examples of what might the reader could do if they had the animal’s eyes. After reading this book, I found other books of this series. “What If You Had An Animal Tongue, Teeth, Hair, and Feet. A simple activity would be a writing response. Students could write about their favorite animal in story and why they would like to have their eyes. Another activity would be to create a bar graph to see which animals the students liked the most.
What If You Had Animal Eyes?
This is a great science engaging story. This book would be a great way to introduce animal adaptations. Throughout the story, the author does a phenomenal job of explaining the importance of how certain animals use their eyes. She keeps the young readers engaged by using examples of what might the reader could do if they had the animal’s eyes. After reading this book, I found other books of this series. “What If You Had An Animal Tongue, Teeth, Hair, and Feet. A simple activity would be a writing response. Students could write about their favorite animal in story and why they would like to have their eyes. Another activity would be to create a bar graph to see which animals the students liked the most.
November 17, 2019
I gave this book 5 stars because it is a great informational text that teaches facts about different types of animals and what their teeth look like, interesting facts about them, and what they are used for. The book starts off talking to the reader about what would happen if you lost two of your teeth and an animal’s teeth grew in their place. Even though it begins as a narrative this is an expository text because it teaches the facts about animal’s teeth and uses text features.
I would use this book to teach my students about physical animal adaptations. I would give each student a type of animal in the book to learn about and a graphic organizer to incorporate facts about that animal’s teeth. Students would then learn how the teeth help the animal live in their habitats and survive. I would then have students pair this book to another informational text about their animal. Then they would have to find more information about their teeth. Students would share about their animal’s teeth with a small group. I would make sure that students understood a physical adaptation is something on your body that helps the animal survive. I would extend this to students researching other parts on their animal’s bodies that help them survive in their habitat.
An extension activity with this text would be to have students read the book and pick the animal that they like the best. They would write a story about what they would do if they had that animal’s teeth. Then I would take a picture of each child with their mouths open wide. I would print out the animal’s teeth and students would cut them out and paste them on their own mouths to go along with their writing. They would share their pictures and stories with partners.
I would use this book to teach my students about physical animal adaptations. I would give each student a type of animal in the book to learn about and a graphic organizer to incorporate facts about that animal’s teeth. Students would then learn how the teeth help the animal live in their habitats and survive. I would then have students pair this book to another informational text about their animal. Then they would have to find more information about their teeth. Students would share about their animal’s teeth with a small group. I would make sure that students understood a physical adaptation is something on your body that helps the animal survive. I would extend this to students researching other parts on their animal’s bodies that help them survive in their habitat.
An extension activity with this text would be to have students read the book and pick the animal that they like the best. They would write a story about what they would do if they had that animal’s teeth. Then I would take a picture of each child with their mouths open wide. I would print out the animal’s teeth and students would cut them out and paste them on their own mouths to go along with their writing. They would share their pictures and stories with partners.
November 12, 2017
I picked this book up at our school's book fair, and I was immediately intrigued by the cover. All of the pictures are bright and colorful, and each page features information on a different animal's eyes. In addition to the facts about the animal, the opposing page features that animal's eyes on a child and it gives an example of what a child could do with eyes like that. The examples are relevant to the interests of children-- like being able to see clearly in a dark, haunted house if you had a clouded leopard's eyes. However, at the end of the book, the author makes a point to tell the reader how lucky he/she is to have human eyes and how to take care of them.
This informational text is unique in that it gets the reader to realize the connection between himself/herself and the animal being described. While some texts in this genre can feel too packed with facts, this book found a nice balance between information and relevancy.
I purchased What If You Had Animal Eyes? to read to my three year old niece who loves learning facts about animals, but I think this book would be engaging for any elementary school student. With my middle school students, I would love to use this (or a similar text, as Sandra Markle has written a few) as a model of writing about informational text. Perhaps it could inspire a writing assignment where students use the "What if you had..." model in order to make textual or historical content relevant. The possibilities are exciting!
This informational text is unique in that it gets the reader to realize the connection between himself/herself and the animal being described. While some texts in this genre can feel too packed with facts, this book found a nice balance between information and relevancy.
I purchased What If You Had Animal Eyes? to read to my three year old niece who loves learning facts about animals, but I think this book would be engaging for any elementary school student. With my middle school students, I would love to use this (or a similar text, as Sandra Markle has written a few) as a model of writing about informational text. Perhaps it could inspire a writing assignment where students use the "What if you had..." model in order to make textual or historical content relevant. The possibilities are exciting!
October 5, 2020
What if you had animal eyes? Find out about the special features of animal eyes including llamas, chameleons, dragonfly, colossal squid, and more. Animals have many different adaptive features that help them live in a variety of climates. This topic is interesting, and the author makes it even more interesting by adding the novelty of imaging how the features could be helpful in human life (golden eagle eyes would let you see a football game well even from the top seats in the at stadium, for example). The illustrations include full color photos of each animal, alongside imaginative drawings of children with the eyes of the animal, demonstrating how they are useful for that child. The pictures might be a little creepy for some kids at first, but most likely kids will find them silly. The book concludes by mentioning that humans have eyes specifically useful for them, as well as ways to keep your eyes healthy and a brief description of how vision works.
I read this book with my preschool and kindergarten age children. I thought there might be a little long for them, but it held their interest very well. This would definitely be a great book to explore during an animal study unit, specifically when discussing adaptation. The book is part of a series that includes what if you had animal ears, noses, feet, hair, and teeth.
I read this book with my preschool and kindergarten age children. I thought there might be a little long for them, but it held their interest very well. This would definitely be a great book to explore during an animal study unit, specifically when discussing adaptation. The book is part of a series that includes what if you had animal ears, noses, feet, hair, and teeth.
April 11, 2018
This book immediately seizes the attention with its vivid and odd illustrations of children that have animal eyes. But beyond the initial shock value, the text itself is of excellent quality. The vocabulary employed isn’t complex but still gives a firm understanding.
The book explains how different animals’ eyes help them adapt to their environments, while providing fun facts. Real-life photographs are complemented by illustrations and text which gives a real-world scenario with which readers can identify. The exploration of animal eyes is completed with an overview of how the human eye works and how to keep yours healthy.
What If You Had Animal Eyes!? would be an excellent addition to a library’s science book collection. Compared to some titles that I have seen, this book is engaging and likely to spark curiosity. I even found myself doing further reading. I give this book four stars. (Reviewed by Ross Hughes)
The book explains how different animals’ eyes help them adapt to their environments, while providing fun facts. Real-life photographs are complemented by illustrations and text which gives a real-world scenario with which readers can identify. The exploration of animal eyes is completed with an overview of how the human eye works and how to keep yours healthy.
What If You Had Animal Eyes!? would be an excellent addition to a library’s science book collection. Compared to some titles that I have seen, this book is engaging and likely to spark curiosity. I even found myself doing further reading. I give this book four stars. (Reviewed by Ross Hughes)
October 28, 2017
Youngsters adore books such as this one that allow them to imagine what the world might be like if they could see it through the eyes of various animals or had those orbs for themselves. The engaging text is accompanied by a photograph of the animal whose eyes are being described and a digital illustration of a human with those eyes planted firmly in his/her head. Thus, readers have a chance to try on the eyes of 11 wild animals, including a chameleon, a golden eagle, a dragonfly, and a tarsier, among others, while learning how those eyes function to make life easier for each species. After all, as the author reminds readers, human eyes are superbly suited for the tasks we need to accomplish as well so it makes sense that animals' eyes are intended to help them survive in their own natural environment. This title is a useful one for elementary science classroom libraries.
January 4, 2020
If you could have your choice of any kind of animal eyes which ones would you choose? One young girl tried out the eyes of a chameleon because she could find toys very fast in the toy store. A boy who loved dinner time chose the eyes of a bullfrog because with one blink he could swallow a big bite. One little girl, who loved to hike at night, chose colossal squid eyes because she wouldn’t need a flashlight.
There are plenty of examples of kids with animal eyes in these pages. But, that’s not all young readers will see. Here kids can learn about each featured animal and also what makes human eyes so special and even how to take care of them. Parents and teachers can share this book with kids who love learning about animals. Readers will learn all about the animals featured on each page too.
There are plenty of examples of kids with animal eyes in these pages. But, that’s not all young readers will see. Here kids can learn about each featured animal and also what makes human eyes so special and even how to take care of them. Parents and teachers can share this book with kids who love learning about animals. Readers will learn all about the animals featured on each page too.
October 11, 2020
This book is a great informational text about a specific adaptation of 11 animals. It shares fun, interesting illustrations of what it would be like to have the eyes of different animals. It provides great information and examples of various animals and their eyes. Children can imagine their selves with different animal eyes and what it would be like in different scenarios. This book is informational and would be appropriate for first grade through third grade. You could use this book to talk about animal adaptations, survival advantages, informative and opinion writing. One activity that would be good is to have the students pick an animal from the book and do a self portrait with the specific eyes drawn in. They could write below their portrait and explain why they chose that specific animal. They would need to include how their eyes help them to survive.
I chose this book for my WOW book because it is informative but yet so fun and imaginative! The illustrations in the text are so entertaining and interesting. Children can learn about animal adaptations and how their eyes help them to survive. There are also so many fun activities that you can incorporate. Children can enjoy learning about science and not even realize it!
I chose this book for my WOW book because it is informative but yet so fun and imaginative! The illustrations in the text are so entertaining and interesting. Children can learn about animal adaptations and how their eyes help them to survive. There are also so many fun activities that you can incorporate. Children can enjoy learning about science and not even realize it!
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December 4, 2020Awards- Can't find any specific to this book, just the author
Grades- 1-3
Summary- Another book by Sandra Markle in her, "What if You Had" series. This edition asks the readers, what if you had animal eyes? The author describes the different type of eyes animals have and why their specific eyes are so important to them and their survival.
Review- This is my favorite informational text series. Young students love to use their imagination and this book allows them to do just that, and is a break from the traditional informative text for kids.
In class uses- I would use this book in a science unit. I would read the book aloud and have the students recall three facts that they remember. At the end I would share with the class and write down all the facts on a big piece of paper to hang up.
Grades- 1-3
Summary- Another book by Sandra Markle in her, "What if You Had" series. This edition asks the readers, what if you had animal eyes? The author describes the different type of eyes animals have and why their specific eyes are so important to them and their survival.
Review- This is my favorite informational text series. Young students love to use their imagination and this book allows them to do just that, and is a break from the traditional informative text for kids.
In class uses- I would use this book in a science unit. I would read the book aloud and have the students recall three facts that they remember. At the end I would share with the class and write down all the facts on a big piece of paper to hang up.
March 17, 2021
This one is so much fun! I really love this style of book for teaching science I think it is a great little way to get kids interested in the animal kingdom and learning fun little facts that would stick with them! I would have loved these types of books as a kid. This book is basically all in the title what if you had animal eyes? This book goes over the interesting and wild eyeballs of creatures and how they see and how you would see if you saw like they do! It’s a great fun fact book I highly recommended. It’s even in a series of books there are others like what if you had animal feet etc! I think this kind of book is great for kids that learn in a bit more of a hands on approach and also have a good sense of imagination as I think this series is really stimulating for imagination of kids while at the same time being a good source of fun facts about animals.
October 28, 2020
I love this book. Each spread explains why each animal has their different, specialized eyes. (chameleon, giant squid, eagle, dragonfly, and more. Real photos of the animal and funny illustrations of a child with that animals eyes. it explains if you had that animals eyes, you could Take a walk at night without a flashlight is one example. There's an extra fact for each animal. the last few pages talk about your special people eyes and what you can do with them. The back has more in depth about eyes, and ways to keep your eyes healthy. I'm definitely going to read What If You Had Animal Teeth?
December 2, 2017
Slim paperback by Scholastic with an intriguing cover, large photos and illustrations, and interesting text.
For each animal, a comparison is made between human and animal with the illustration showing how a human might use the animal's eyes:
Yellow Mongoose: "If you had yellow mongoose eyes, you'd always win at laser tag." (page 17)
Part of a series by Sandra Markle - What if You Had...Animal Feet, Animal Teeth, Animal Ears, Animal Hair, an Animal Nose?
For each animal, a comparison is made between human and animal with the illustration showing how a human might use the animal's eyes:
Yellow Mongoose: "If you had yellow mongoose eyes, you'd always win at laser tag." (page 17)
Part of a series by Sandra Markle - What if You Had...Animal Feet, Animal Teeth, Animal Ears, Animal Hair, an Animal Nose?
October 8, 2018
If you liked Tooth by Tooth, this book has a similar feel. It informs readers all about the different types of eyes animals have and how that affects their sight. Then it gives an example of how that would be if YOU, dear human, had those same eyes. Very cool. There are also other books in this series.
November 6, 2018
Genre: Informational
Unique Feature: One unique feature that this book encompasses is the way it gives students scientific facts about animal characteristics while keeping them engaged in a story-like dialogue. I also really enjoyed the illustrations, they are so intriguing.
Targeted Grade Level: This book is appropriate for any grade K-3.
Date Completed: 11/6/2018
Unique Feature: One unique feature that this book encompasses is the way it gives students scientific facts about animal characteristics while keeping them engaged in a story-like dialogue. I also really enjoyed the illustrations, they are so intriguing.
Targeted Grade Level: This book is appropriate for any grade K-3.
Date Completed: 11/6/2018
August 18, 2017
I absolutely LOVE this series of books and so do the kids at my elementary school. As soon as the latest book comes out, I use it as a read aloud for all the classes. What if You Had Animal Eyes is a great addition to the series. Please Sandra Markle, keep adding to this series!
September 11, 2017
This is such an interesting series! This entry is no different - it presents a wide variety of interesting animal eyes, what they're for, and how they work. It also gives some (often tangential) suggestions on what a human kid could do with those eyes.
July 6, 2019
I tell my students a great nonfiction read makes you want to read more about the subject. This was that book for me. I have 2 eye conditions (heterochromia and a coloboma) that spurred me to do extended nonfiction reading.
August 4, 2022
An excellent non-fiction animal book to use for a library lesson. I definitely wouldn't have time to read the whole book so I would choose 3-4 animals to read about, then have the book available for students to look at during book time.
Story: 4
Illustrations: 4
Read-aloud: 4
Story: 4
Illustrations: 4
Read-aloud: 4
November 5, 2017
Fun book for kids - hilarious and informative. The illustrations really made this book.
December 24, 2017
Learned so much about animal eyes from dreading this book and the different adaptations. Now I want to read the whole series! Great illustrations.
March 7, 2018
These books never disappoint! Great book!
September 19, 2018
megan summer reading 2018, children's book, nonfiction, biology, animals, eyes, adaptations
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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!!
March 20, 2020
A good teaching tool, but as an adult, full of some truly cursed images re: humans with animal eyes.
April 3, 2020
This isn't my favorite of the series, but still thought I should mention it. I just don't think the different eyes are as "wow factoring" as noses and toes and tales and such.
April 28, 2020
Love the graphics!! The information was so cool!
February 24, 2021
Such fascinating eyes and fun ways to apply these weird animal abilities in the life of a child.
March 4, 2021
Love this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews