Review Detail

Open Wide!: Jaw-dropping Mouths of the Animal World

Middle Grade Non-Fiction 207

A lip-smacking taste of animal anatomy

August 08, 2024

Overall rating

4.3

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Learning Value

5.0

Mouths. All living creatures have them, right? I was amazed at the variety of types of mouths, teeth, and various mouth parts that animals use for feeding when I read this book. Can you see a snail licking a lollipop? Well, I guess they could rub the sweet treat up against the tooth like projections on their radula... if they had tiny hand to hold it! And platypi don't have teeth at all; they have grinding pads after their baby teeth fall out! Each of the colorfully illustrated pages are packed with information like this that will delight readers who enjoy the Nat Geo Kids Weird But True books.

This is broken up into different chapters that cover topics like spit, tongues, tusks, and bills and beaks. The side bars with "Spot the difference" are quite fascinating, and offer valuable insights into how to tell crocodiles and alligators apart, notice the similarities and differences between tooth and claw, and compare mastodons, wooly mammoths, and elephants. There are "Not for the squeamish" tags that also offer a lot of stuff that I didn't know... and perhaps didn't want to! (Rat poison is so effective because rats can't vomit!) One particularly fun addition to the pages are teaser questions like "Why are beaver teeth orange?" that are answered on the next page. (Their teeth are partly made of iron, and the orange color is rust!)

Good Points

The page design is somewhat crowded, because so many things are fighting for space on the page, but the text is always rendered in a font size that is readable, and the contrast between the background and text colors is always good. The uses of boxes and illustrative elements to segment text is helpful, and I really liked the repetition of some of the elements previously mentioned.

Even though this is a great title to dip into for random facts, there is a very nice index at the back, along with a helpful glossary of terms. There is also a list of selected sources and photo credits, which I always appreciate, since I like to use this as an example for my students!

I would much rather see young people spend their time stuffing their minds with random facts than mindlessly watching online videos, so if you have a young person interested in anatomy or animals, this would be a great book to bring along to a doctor's appointment or on a long car ride. Just be prepared to be reached with a steady stream of "Did you know..."!