ABC Dentist: Healthy Teeth from A to Z [Hardcover]

Harriet Ziefert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2008 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

A trip to the dentist's office is easy once you know the ABCs of it. In this book, kids will learn important words like "appointment,""cavity,""plaque," and "X-ray." Informative text and lively collage illustrations make this the perfect book to calm any child's fears about the dentist.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3—A visit to the dentist has never been so painless. Ziefert describes the experience in an interesting and comprehensible alphabetical format. Plaque, floss, cavity, and 23 other terms are defined. Pleasing collages combined with colorful illustrations and diagrams provide a realistic picture of what goes on in a dental office. School nurses and dental hygienists would be able to teach a unit on dental health using the book, and it would be a worthwhile purchase for dental offices serving young children. A must purchase for most libraries.—Nancy Baumann, Indian Paintbrush Elementary, Laramie, WY
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From Booklist

Like their previous collaboration, ABC Doctor (2007), this book is designed to soothe anxious young patients. From A (“appointment”) to Z (“zillion times cleaner”), the bright, collage-filled pages feature facts about teeth and gums, assurances that a visit to the dentist won’t hurt too much, and images of children getting care from friendly dentists and hygienists. The facts range from the basics (explaining why a bib and dental chair are useful) to the more specialized (the different types of teeth and what a tooth is made of), while the slightly old-school illustrations (the dentist and orthodontist are both portrayed as white men, and their helpers are female) offer a variety of views of mouths and teeth, including one nice use of an actual X-ray. Almost everyone in the book is smiling (the exceptions being a nervous child on the “questions” page and the one who has a canker sore, or “ulcer”), but the book seeks to offer plenty of knowledge as well as comfort. Grades K-3. --Abby Nolan

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 36 pages
• Publisher: Blue Apple Books (August 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934706310
• ISBN-13: 978-1934706312
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 0.4 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harriet Ziefert was born in New Jersey. She grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University. "About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year. Ziefert's picture book A New Coat for Anna is about a girl in a bombed-out European city during the months just after World War II. Anna has outgrown her old coat, and her mother trades her few surviving treasures--a watch, a lamp, a necklace, and a porcelain teapot--in order to obtain wool and have it spun, woven, and finally sewn into a fine red coat for Anna. A Horn Book Magazine reviewer stated, "the simple text, based on a true story, carries the narrative along effectively." The book, which was illustrated by Anita Lobel, was chosen as one of ten books to be read aloud by former First Lady Barbara Bush as part of a program promoting reading. Ziefert was invited to the White House for the occasion. The reason Ziefert began writing easy-to-read books was that she felt "they were getting too hard for kids to read in the first grade." She says that she wrote easy-to-read books with seventy-five or fewer words, even ones with fifty or fewer words, "to see how much of a story" she could produce with that limit. She enjoyed the challenge, and cites her book Sleepy Dog as an example. "Sleepy Dog is the most successful book I've ever done, in terms of number of books sold." She's also been working on a developmental program with publisher Dorling Kindersley, made up of books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Her book Pete's Chicken, which was illustrated by Laura Rader, was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review as "a simple, sweet 'Song of Myself' for children . . . [which] applauds the specialness of every child as it reminds parents of the healing power of just being there for children." Among her other books is a series of easy-to-read books, such as Trip Day and Worm Day, about an inventive science teacher and his rambunctious class of students. Ziefert's book Let's Get a Pet was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by a joint committee of the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council. . Ms. Ziefert lives in Maplewood, New Jersey and Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has two adult sons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to help your child learn about dental hygiene ... prevent cavities and fear of dentists!, April 9, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: ABC Dentist: Healthy Teeth from A to Z (Hardcover)

Dentists can be very scary people. Not many people like to have someone looking into their mouths to check out their teeth. Probably the only time teeth are fun is when one falls out and the tooth fairy comes to leave some money! There are all kinds of things to learn about healthy teeth from A to Z.

Q is for Questions:

Patient: "Will it hurt?"

Dentist: "It doesn't have to hurt. If what I'm going to do might hurt, I will inject some medicine so you won't feel it."

This was a surprisingly well done book with a considerable amount of information that a child can easily understand and absorb with additional information that will interest the parent, caretaker or teacher. In this A to Z book about healthy teeth there are simple explanations about everything from the use of floss to what plaque and saliva are. One of the more interesting is an illustration detailing the number and names of all the teeth. The text was reviewed by a DDS for accuracy. This would be a good introduction to acquaint the young child with dentists and prevent not only cavities, but fear of dentistry itself.