Aimed at recently literate young naturalists, this gallery of animal mouths, tongues and teeth makes the connection between diet and dentifrice, while introducing a light load of special terminology like “scavenger” and “chameleon.” Humans don’t make the cut here, but Stephens’s accurate color illustrations offer rousing close-ups of a toothy crocodile, a lamprey’s maw and other memorable enticements to linger over the simple, three-or-four-sentence-per-page text. Despite the disappointing absence of a glossary or other backmatter, this is worth considering as a supplement or alternative to D.M. Souza’s photographically illustrated Look What Mouths Can Do (2006). (Easy reader/nonfiction. 6-8)
