TEETH

In this natural companion to Beaks! (2002), illustrated by Robin Brickman, Collard introduces types of teeth as well as the many uses to which they are put by wild animals, from stabbing or crushing food to displaying emotion. He also discusses numbers of teeth and how they grow, the differences between teeth and horns or antlers and the various places besides jaws that they grow in some fish. Supplemented by the occasional skull or inside close-up, Saroff’s big, naturalistic head shots depict a wide variety of wildlife, artfully angled, often looking directly at viewers and, for the meat-eaters, with toothy mouths crowd-pleasingly agape. Dramatically illustrated and with information that is deftly pitched to the intended audience’s level, this makes a fine choice amid the multitude of like-themed titles for either pleasure or purpose reading. (Nonfiction. 7-9)