The Dentist from the Black Lagoon

Black Lagoon #16

by Mike Thaler, Jared Lee (Illustrator)

What could be worse than going to the dentist? The dentist coming to you -- that's what! Dr. B.N. Payne is going to check everyone's teeth and he just might pull a few out, too! YIKES!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Juvenile, Humor, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Mike Thaler, born in Los Angeles, started his professional career drawing cartoons for adults. A children's book editor saw one of his cartoon stories in a national magazine and encouraged Mike to try writing for children. His first attempt met with success, and "The Magic Boy" was published in 1961.

Mike has produced over 220 published books and is known as “America’s Riddle King.” He has also been called “The Court Jester of Children’s Literature.”

Mike Thaler lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Patty. He gladly welcomes all invitations to do church and school programs, and other book events.

Mike travels each year throughout the world helping children and teachers create their own stories, riddles, and books. He writes and teaches with creativity, inspiring his audiences with a love of language.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[melhara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was packed with tooth puns and would make for a pretty funny present to any dentist out there. While this was certainly a fun book to read as an adult, I'm not sure if younger kids will understand the puns though, and the book doesn't offer much information to alleviate a child's fear and uncertainties when it comes to visiting a dentist.

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Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away.

[Jennifer Sharkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book from the Black Lagoon series. Usually the first part of the book tries to scare the audience about the subject matter (in this book, the dentist). The second half of the book makes the reader realize that it's not as scary as it seemed. This book did nothing to redeem itself from scaring little kids away from the dentist. Kids don't need help being afraid of the dentist!!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dentist will be visiting the school and Hubie, and none of the other children are looking forward to his visit. The story spreads throughout the school of how maniacal the dentist can be with his tools and such. Can this visit to the dentist be Hubie and his schoolmates last one?

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other titles of the Black Lagoon series, this one follows the tried-and-true formula of anticipated dread ending in happy relief. A young boy is nervous when he hears that the dentist will be at school to check everyone’s teeth in observance of Dental Health Month. He imagines all sorts of horrors as he hears other kids’ dentist stories while waiting in line. To his surprise, the dentist is not the monster he feared but an agreeable fellow who checks his teeth and gives him a toothbrush. The talk of crowns, caps, canals and the like make for some entertaining illustrations. Add in lots of wordplay (like Dr. B.N. Payne) and puns and a page of tooth riddles and you have an enjoyable read that would be a great choice for reading aloud to a variety of age levels.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to read the 'Black Lagoon' stories as a small child; however, over time they are not something I would typically read to my own children now that I am older. When my family made our weekly trip to the local library, my son saw this book on display (it is the month of spooky things- October and all) and he really wanted to read this one.

"The Dentist from the Black Lagoon" is a tale about a child who lives in a different sort town with a strange type of characters making up the society. Monsters, alligators, terrible imagines are all the things that make up this child's mind as he prepares for what he will face each and every day. In this story however, he will be facing the dentist and is scared to death.

[Ashley Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a funny little book. I would probably use this book in 2nd through 5th grade. I could use this as a language arts lesson focusing on idioms. This book uses lots of them. For instance when his friend tells him that when his uncle went to the dentist he got a bridge in his mouth. The little boy pictures a real bridge.
I would also use this book to talk about eating healthy and the importance of healthy foods so you thy don't have to get alot of dental work done.

[Shaylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picture book: This book might put kids' fears of the dentist to rest, but the illustrations are overwhelming/overstimulating for me. It is full of great puns, so best used with an older group who can understand them.

[Briana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book to three kids of varying ages, and the dental jokes when over all of their heads. They don't really know what a crown, bridge, or root canal is. They didn't get the references to things like the Erie canal. The jokes at the end also referenced historical figures they didn't know about. Overall, they were just baffled by the entire thing. I think you'd almost have to be out of the recommended ages for the book to "get" it.

This is all separate from the point others have brought up that this may encourage kids to be afraid of the dentist who hadn't been before. I actually find that an issue with picture books in general. They frequently introduce the idea kids "should" be afraid of something or can be a bully about something to other kids that the kid hadn't enough thought of before the book suggested it.

[Renee Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wacky, cute story about the anticipation of the dentist visiting school to check the students' teeth. Great illustrations of the clever play on words. Kids will probably get a kick out of reading this one.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with Cecilia 12 Feb 2025

The first visit to the dentist done at school to help remove some of the concerns and phobias about going to the dentist. All wells that ends well as the dentist isn't a scary monster.

[Chris Schaben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super funny!

[Jessie Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It was excellent! Everything about it!” -Wolfgang age 6

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for kids! It tells of a boy going to the dentist. The illustrations are spooky, and the margins are full of humorous puns!

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying the Black Lagoon series!

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute simple book about puns and phrases creating anxiety in a class of children visiting the dentist for the first time.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, I would have opted out with that special visitor.

[Grunge SeaBunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

🦷🪥✨

[Kelly Powell]

This is a fun book to read before visiting the dentist or when first learning what the dentist really is compared to the horror stories you have heard growing up. The puns used by the author may not be picked up by young ears but as an adult and you know the terms used by a dentist allow the words to be comical. The illustrations also show how outrageous the words used seem if you don’t know their true meaning when relating them to dentist lingo.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written on Friday May 22, 2020.

A child's worst imaginings of getting a dental cleaning evaporate when he realizes his fears are just that: distorted truth.
Mike Thaler's comical build-up to unveil reality, along with the exxagerrated illustrations show how innocent and believing all children can be.

More more see Mike Thaler's entire series
including
The Teacher from the Black Lagoon
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another great installment of the Black Lagoon Series. This installment has even more word play and puns than the others. The pictures do a great job of visualizing the childrens' misconceptions of what a dentist does. In the end, Hubie learns that going to the dentist isn't as bad as he'd feared.

[Vanessa Peavy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because of the colorful and busy pictures. I also like how it makes connections between words used in a dentist office and other words like caps- baseball caps, crown- king/queens crown, and how dentures are like stars because they come out at night. its a silly book and kids k-3 or 4 would probably like it.

[Dawn Draper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations overwhelmed the text to the point that I had to look to find it. I did like the fact that it showed how a child's imagination can run wild with possibilities so I think kids would enjoy the story if it was read to them.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great way to introduce a dentist to scared kids. I LOVED the images of crowns, bridges, braces etc. Things that kids picture when they don't understand the alternate meanings. This series is a favorite of my 6 year old, and I'm beginning to see why.

[Amber]

5 copies available

[Alysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny book! Great for a read aloud.

[Sharlet Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books all have great pictures in a weird way. I like the twist of how children may see the dentist.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter loves reading these books with me. Great Series.