Sweet Tooth

by Margie Palatini, Jack E. Davis (Illustrator)

Lots of kids have a sweet tooth. But not like Stewart's. His very loud sweet tooth wants what it wants, when it wants it...and lets everyone know about it.
Stewart's sweet tooth screams for cake at weddings, for candy during class, and torments him at the movies. Stewart has had enough, and he's bringing out the big guns -- a carrot.
Can he stand up to the most annoying sweet tooth in history?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Food, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2004

Reviews

[Ariel Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly story about one boy with a quite outspoken sweet tooth. Stewart's sweet tooth gets him in to all kinds of trouble. One day, he decides to cut it off cold turkey. Healthy food, brushing and flossing, and mouthwash almost shut up his sweet tooth. But when he comes back with a vengeance, Stewart has to break out the big guns -- a carrot.

Really awesome illustrations bring to life the consequences of the sweet tooth's bullying. They add a lot to the humor of the story, especially the contrast between Stewart's hapless face and the sweet tooth's stern one.

Pretty long, but elementary schoolers should get a kick out of this one if you can perfect your angry sweet tooth voice.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give someone with an overactive imagination, an overdeveloped vocabulary, and a penchant for sugary treats a pencil and this is bound to happen sooner later. This is the story of a high-maintenence sweet tooth and the boy he was attached to at the gum. If you're like me, you can identify here. I think I have an entire mouth full of this sweet tooth's relatives and friends. This is the sort of story that you should read aloud. It's wordy, like all Margie Palatini books are, and it's wonderful. It answers that age old question; what would happen if my tooth could talk? I just hope my teeth wouldn't speak to me the way that Stewart's sweet tooth spoke to him.

[Romelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

update:
In 2015 I rated this 3 stars. This year (2016) I'm upgrading it to 4 stars. I thought this was a great story- original and punny! What I didn't like when I read it the first time was the demanding, rude, and annoying sweet tooth. But now I see it as characters with personality. I like the message of will power and determination.

[Tory Haberman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Tooth by Margie Palatini is about a kid named Stuart’s sweet tooth; a nagging, annoying, and demanding sweet tooth who wants what it wants when it wants it. It causes Stuart to do terrible, horrible, and overall bad things. That is, being a distraction in his class, eating all the Easter candy, etc. It wasn’t till Stuart had had enough and decided to go on a healthy diet! He ate his peas and broccoli while his sweet tooth protested. He stayed strong and didn’t listen to what his sweet tooth had to say. Stuart finally got rid of the sweet tooth in the end, getting rid of it for good.

This book is very silly and humorous. It brings a child’s imagination to life through the illustrations that are full of detail and bold colors. The cartoonish illustrations really create a feel of fantasy that even though this book cannot realistically happen; it is something that children can relate to and laugh about. I especially can relate to this story since I know I have more than one sweet tooth I have to deal with in my mouth! This book can be very entertaining for kids as they also learn lessons of never giving up and changing bad habits into good ones. The willpower that Stuart had was very consistent.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Tooth is a book about a bossy, nasty tooth that needs his sweets. He bosses Stewart around to give sweets at the most inconvenient of time. Finally Stewart has had enough, he brushed, flossed, and cut out all sweets. But that wasn't going to stop the sweet toot so finally Stewart brought out the big guns, a carrot. And with the carrot Stewart's sweet tooth was finally gone.

The language that Palatini uses truly adds to the bossiness of the sweet tooth. Without using that specific language the reader would not understand the need for sweets this tooth has. The onomatopoeia that is used also adds to the story. You are able to almost hear the crunching of the carrot by using it.

[Deanna Pesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet Tooth is a beautifully done book. The main character, Stewart, has an evil sweet tooth that talks and always get him into trouble at school, and at his family parties. So, he decided to quit sweets cold turkey to get rid of the sweet tooth. Nothing works so Stewart takes matters into his own hands. He grabs a carrot from the fridge and break the sweet tooth off of it. The sweet tooth was placed under the pillow and went to the tooth fairy's office and meets the canine and baby teeth. It's a really adorable story and really funny.

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is laugh out loud funny! Not only were my students on the edge of their seats waiting to find out what happened, it is perfect to teach "voice" in writing. The change in font is a great example to show writers that they can do this in their own stories so that the reader knows when to change their inflection. Additionally, I would use this to teach my students that they could add accents to dialogue (such as writing "somethin'" instead of "something") to give the character more personality. Just a fabulous book to listen to and read over and over again for a variety of purposes.

[K Gover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture book- very clever point of view- tooth vs kid.
Stewart changes his behavior to make the sweet tooth behave, which makes Stewart behave.

Memory moments of all the bad things the tooth has made Stewart do.
AHA- end of book when Stewart uses a carrot to "lose" the tooth. Tooth Fairy scent with wisdom tooth and Canine are also clever.
Words to the Wiser- Stewart treats his sweet tooth issue with a healthy diet.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sweet Tooth is demanding and wants his treets. When Stewart wants to be good and eat a healthy diet, the sweet tooth goes bananas!...He demands his sweets....cookies, candy, cake. Then the tooth is loose and falls out! Now it is the tooth fairy's problem.

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

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bossy, no-good, mean old sweet tooth is running and ruining Stewart's life. It dictates his days and is getting him in a ton of trouble! With strong-willed determination, Stewart hits the veggies hard and sweet tooth eventually meets his death… by carrot. It's quite a terrifying sweet tooth to be honest - could use for personification or voice lesson or bad habits/sin devotional.

[Fidelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever not been in control? Well Stewart has. He hasn't been in control over sweets because he has a sweet tooth. But it's no ordinary sweet tooth. This tooth talks and is incredibly rude. The tooth interferes with everything. First a wedding, then school! Read this book to find out what happens next
in... Sweet Tooth!

[Jessica]

I loved the book. There were lots of visuals and it was extremely easy to read. I felt like it connected to lots of students and even me as an adult. We all crave some sort of sweetness sometimes but Stewart was showing us that we can let our sweet tooth control us. Its shows us how we need to be healthy as times and eat veggies and brush our teeth.

[Tiffany Klier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great bedtime book with my kids. I have read this one more than once this month. The voice of the sweet tooth is funny, so I try to remember to tell this story using a different voice for him. My kids have really started brushing their teeth more often too!

[Kate Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder what makes you want to eat junk? Maybe it's that nagging sweet tooth.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kindergarten- Grade 3: funny story for older kids.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduced the kids to sweet reading. They loved this book, but reading aloud is rough on the voice. That tooth is gruff!

[Mely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is something else. Quirky and satirical. My 4 yr old was captivated by this story. Who knew teeth could be such a comical character? I give it kudos for originality. That ending.... lol

[Sequoia Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

That sweet tooth can be so tempting but self control!

[Angel Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a kid named Stewart who has a tooth that is seemingly alive. It has its own mind and desires and as the title suggests it is a sweet tooth. It craves sweets and makes it known that it does. This causes Stewart to get in a lot of trouble because even if he doesn’t want it if the sweet tooth does it will do anything to crave itself. It also gets Stewart into trouble with its loud outbursts that others think is Stewart, but it is really the sweet tooth. Eventually Stewart decides enough is enough and begins eating healthy foods instead of giving in to the tooth’s cravings. This upsets the sweet tooth which causes it to ruin Stewart’s baseball game. Stewart had had enough and grabbed a healthy carrot and crunched it onto the sweet tooth. Afterwards the sweet tooth falls out and Steward puts it under his pillow for the tooth fairy to collect. This story is a great read aloud to help children understand that having a sweet tooth isn’t always a good thing. It makes a sweet tooth seem like a bully so children will be wary about always eating sweets. Jack E. Davis's illustration on the cover with the angry tooth is incredibly creepy (in a good way of course.)

[Janique Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows a little boy and his sweet tooth. This book personifies this little boy's tooth as loud, rude, and demanding. Stewart is somewhat possessed by the tooth and is usually on his best behavior. But at a wedding, his tooth wanted some cake and he obliged, ruining the wedding. He even got in trouble at school because of this little tooth blurting out wrong answers in class, resulting in detention slips for disruption. Even Easter was a disaster with him eating all the candy. One day, he had it and told his tooth they were going on a diet and began eating peas and broccoli. In the end, he got so fed up with the tooth that he took it out of his mouth with a carrot. This book was really funny and I liked how the tooth kind of resembled the typical New Yorker stereotype. I would recommend this book to kids who are losing their teeth.

[Regina Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a young boy with a serious sweet tooth. His sweet tooth would get him in trouble by being disruptive and making snappy comments. It seems that the more the boy fed the tooth sweets the worse it got. Finally the boy decides that he has had enough of his tooth and he fights back by cutting out sweets, eating healthier foods, and brushing his teeth.
I found this book to be funny and I really enjoyed it. I can imagine this book being enjoyed from pre-k all the way to 3rd grade. I think this book serves as a great example of overcoming challenges. I would ask students what they would do if they were the young boy in this story.

[Zanna McMurtrey]

This was a really cute picture book, and the illustrations were hilarious. However, I’m mostly just confused. Why is the tooth angry? Why can it control the boy? Do other people have sweet teeth that can control them? Why did it die because of the carrot? Carrots aren’t very good for your teeth at all. I know it’s all supposed to be chalked up to the artistic liberties of a childrens book, but I think this is so far-fetched that it breaks the suspicion of disbelief and becomes less relatable.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I thought the voice was annoying. Also, this book made Peter scared that his teeth are going to die... Why is the tooth punished by eating a carrot- the one healthy food in the story? What message is this trying to tell our kids? Eat junk food and your teeth stay in your mouth, albeit irritating?

[Crystal Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good book to introduce to the classroom because it teaches the lesson to never give up. In this story Stewart had a very bad habit but he changed it into a good one. I like this book because it encourages kids to not give up on something that they want to change no matter how challenging it could be.

[Cathy Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story about self-control. Children are draw to sugar and may find it hard to resist sweets. In this beautifully illustrated story, Stewart is bothered by his tooth that tells him to eat the wrong things at inappropriate times. Lots of trouble until Stewart decides to resist and eat healthy. My favorite part is the section with the Tooth Fairy. Enjoy.

[Kylie Coon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was super cute. I would use it as a read-aloud in my first-grade class. I think these young students would be able to relate and would like the book. I also like the illustrations It gives me No David vibes.

[Lauren Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stewart is a little boy who has a sweet tooth who doesn’t stop nagging him and getting him into trouble. I feel like this is super relatable for students because everyone likes sweets and sometimes they can make you do crazy things.

[Madison Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a very fun book students would enjoy reading. The pictures in the book are funny. This book would probably be very relatable to many students as it is about enjoying candy and other sweets. This is a good book to teach students about self control.

[Allison Turkish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great illustrations. I didn't like the story at all. It wasn't interesting. It wasn't funny. Plus the sayings and phrases were likely over the heads of the age of child reading the book. Very disappointing since I love sweets.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think someone wrote a biography about me and just changed names...