Hide! The tiger's mouth is open wide! by Adam Frost

 A tiger with toothache is terrifying! As Tom and Sophie are about to find out... But when your dad is a zookeeper and your mum's the zoo vet, there's also grrrreat fun to be had. An animal-packed zoo caper with stacks of behind-the scenes peeks at London zoo!

Tom and Sophie Nightingale live on a barge with their zookeeper dad and vet mum, and as many animals as you can get on a small boat. Surely there's no room for any MORE animals in their life?

When a tiger at the zoo has a dental dilemma, Tom and Sophie can't help but get involved. But there is a carnivorous culprit closer to home that they must also diagnose - and quickly! 

Star Rating

 

I received this book from Bloomsbury for an honest and open review. 

Initially, I was wary about reading this book to my Year 2 class as I thought it would read as an 'educational' book and lack a substantial story plot. However, I was pleasantly surprised and, although it is packed full of animal facts, the children thoroughly enjoyed the story behind them.

In this story Tom is reluctant to go to the dentist for a check-up, a feeling that the children in my class could strongly connect with (although some children did tell me they LOVE going to the dentist as they have the best stickers known to man.) Having a dad who works as a zoo-keeper and a mum who works as the zoo vet, Tom and Sophie are invited along to the local zoo to help care for some animals who are having their own dental dilemmas!

This book was packed full of interesting facts about animals and their teeth. My class particularly liked the more gruesome facts - for example, the rat whose teeth were getting so long that they were starting to curl back into it's mouth. The children learned why herbivores have different teeth to omnivores and which creature has the most teeth. When reading about Harriet the hippo, I showed them an image of the inside of a hippopotamus' mouth and the children were amazed at the sheer size! 

I would highly recommend this book to read alongside a science topic, or just as an enjoyable story for any animal lovers out there!