The Tooth Book (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))

You start off reading "The Tooth Book" wondering why Dr. Seuss, writing under his Theo. LeSieg pseudonym, is taking so much time answering the question "Who has teeth?" That is because the answer seems rather obvious and even more so when this book gets to the importance of teeth to chewing, smiling, speaking, and trapeze artists who are supporting their partners by something they are holding on to with their teeth. Then the book touches on a few animals that do not have teeth, and again you find yourself asking "So what?" At which point the book springs it trap and we find out that "The Tooth Book" is not only entertaining, it is (surprise, surprise) educational as well.
The final section of this book is devoted to the idea of protecting your teeth because you only get two sets. Even though kids will lose their first set of teeth, they do not get the same deal on their second set so keeping them in good shape would be a good thing. Some of the advice is, as you would expect from Dr. Seuss, a bit absurd (do not use your teeth to chomp down trees like beavers), but most of it is on target, even if the book does not go into much depth. The illustrations, as is usually the case with "LeSeig," who writes more about the real world than Dr. Seuss, is by a different illustrator than the author, in this case Roy McKie. Dr. Seuss does wonderfully strange animals and people, while McKie illustrates them in a more conventional manner.
"The Tooth Book" is one of the Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners. However, obviously you want to pick your moment before introducing this particular book to your young child. Even when you kid starts losing their baby teeth it might be too soon for them to read this one, but certainly when you are teaching them to care for their permanent teeth this is a book that will be helpful in giving them an idea of what to expect. "LeSieg" does not provide specific things for kids to do to help keep their teeth in good shapes, but that information can certainly come from other sources. But he does at least get beginning beginner readers to think favorable about dental care (and even dentists as well).

Adults can quickly forget that children spend much of their time from ages 2 through 10 either getting teeth or losing their baby teeth. It is seldom a pleasant experience (except perhaps if a generous tooth fairy is involved), and must make a child feel like it will never end. Dr. Seuss (writing under his pen name of Theo. LeSieg, an anagram of Geisel) has created the world's best book for helping children learn about teeth, teething, and how to read. What a great gift for each generation of youngsters!
The book is conveniently organized into the kind of questions a reporter would ask.
Who has teeth? These include red-headed uncles, policemen, zebras, unicycle riders, camels and their riders, and little girls named Ruthie.
Where are there teeth? You will find them on mountain tops, in the air, underground, east, west, north, south, and in a lion's mouth.
Why are there teeth? "They come in handy when you chew." But they are also useful for smiling, work (especially if you are an acrobat and hold someone by your teeth), and speech.
Who doesn't have teeth? The snails and jelly fish are sadly bereft.
What about peoples' teeth? You will grow 2 sets, with 32 in the second set. And you will not get any more, so you'd better take care of them. So don't chew trees like a beaver, or use your teeth to open bottles, or eat sweet junk food ("Billy Billings [has] fifty fillings.").
For you, they will always be "handy when you smile. So keep your teeth around awhile."
"And never bite your dentist . . . your teeth's best friend. Bite someone else instead."
The humorous treatment of the tooth subject will help intrigue your child. You can expect to get questions about why all of these toothy things occur, so you should probably look up the answers before you introduce the book to optimize the educational opportunity. Or talk to your dentist or dental hygienist on your next visit.
The illustrations are not by Dr. Seuss in this new edition, but they are wonderfully done. The teeth are large, in the center of your attention, and beautiful. This serves to underscore the message of having teeth be a positive part of everyone's life.
As a prereader, this book is good for repetition. The words "tooth" and "teeth" are almost everywhere. This can help your child learn to identify those words. When that identification can be done, you can point to the words in the story when you come to them and your child can "read" them to you then aloud. You can eventually add other words that are repeated like "smile" and the articles like "a" and "the."
The illustrations can add clues to allow you to help your youngster identify other words like "red" and "trombones."
After you have finished enjoying this story, I suggest that at some point you begin to ask parallel questions about other parts of the body. This approach can help expand your child's awareness of what makes humans different and what is good about that.
Sink your teeth into this learning opportunity to become a better parent . . . and you'll have a real mouthful! And your child's mouthful will be healthier and your child more literate, too!!

This book is a brief and playful introduction to the different kinds of teeth that are found in the world -- reminiscent of The Foot Book but not as good. The text is by Dr. Seuss and illustrations by Joe Mathieu; while children might enjoy it, it's not nearly in the leage of some of Seuss's best work, although it does include wordplay and the wonderful rhythmic text he is known for. It is disconcerting to hear Seussical rhyme with illustrations that are so different from his, and the effect is a little incoherent -- not quite hitting the mark.

I was expecting a book about the tooth fairy coming. Not exactly what I wanted, but a good book. Perhaps such a book has not been written - at least I haven't found it. There are some, but not to my liking. Being able to see a couple more pages would have been most helpful.

Funny and cute book. Great to teach kids the importance of brushing teeth and keeping them healthy. Because the book is so short, kids will memorize the pages and recite them nightly as they brush..."Billy Billings has 50 fillings." when he was eating all the junk food.

My brother, a dentist, bought this for my son for a Christmas. I, being a bit of a Seuss-nut, would never have boughten it as it was never published during Seuss's lifetime. I can see why. It has no smooth rhyming patterns making it difficult to read with a rhythm. The pictures are not drawn by Seuss, either. The purpose of the book is good but there are plenty of other children-dentist books out there to choose from.

"...like Billy Billings, they say his teeth have fifty fillings." As a dental hygienist, I love this book. I have a copy of it in my office for little ones to read. Of course it has great rhyming text in Dr. Seuss fashion. It would be a very entertaining read for new readers, and educational on the importance of teeth.

This book is wonderful. My daughter started with this book when she was only 5 or 6 months old. Its great because it teaches kids about teeth and to take care of them. My daughter is 19 months old now and still reaches for this book all the time!

Boring, boring, and oh, did I mention boring? It was short, not terribly clever at all, and the illustrations are not even Dr. Suess. I felt ripped off. I don't know why I thought it was tooth "fairy" related, as our daughter just lost her first tooth and we thought this would tie in. It doesn't. Neither of my kids (3 and 6)liked this even a little. They both said it was...boring.