“What if You Had…” Series

We have been having a lot of fun reading the “What if You Had” series, a non-fiction series on animals. So far, we have read:

• What if You Had T. rex Teeth!?
• What if You Had Animal Teeth
• What if You had Animal Ears!?
• What if You Had an Animal Tail!?

The book we started with was “What if You Had T. rex Teeth” and my son thought it was hilarious! He was asking out loud, “What? What if I had dinosaur feet?!” The illustration of a child with big dinosaur feet caught his attention for sure! My favorite was the Triceratops page which featured a child using his three horns to carry in a whole bunch of groceries for his mom – SO GREAT! 🙂

These books are clever because you aren’t just reciting interesting animal facts to your children. You are asking them to ACTUALLY IMAGINE what it would be like have a certain animal body part and the fun they could have with that capability. It’s outrageous and funny to consider so your kids will remember what they are learning. I have never been this entertained by an animal facts book before.

Watching your kids reactions is the best part. Tonight, we finished the “What if You Had Animal Teeth” book. My kids were fascinated by the fact hippos would never have to brush their teeth because they grind them together so they always stay clean. In the illustration, the child with imaginary hippo teeth throws away her toothbrush! My son couldn’t believe it! “Mom, she can throw away her toothbrush! Hippo teeth always stay clean.” I could tell that he wanted hippo teeth too 🙂

Fun facts are sprinkled in on every page. For example, we found out that elephants can be either left or right tusked just like humans are left or right handed – who knew? Fascinating! And a crocodile’s teeth always stay out of its mouth. My daughter turned to me and said, “You wouldn’t need x-rays at the dentist!” There was page on bats that can literally hear mosquitos flying in the air. As a parent, I appreciated that there was just the right amount of factual details on each animal (1-2 short paragraphs) so that even my younger child stayed engaged.

I highly recommend these book series for all kids of all ages. The series was informative, imaginative, and downright funny – an unusual and winning combination in the non-fiction category. 6 stars. I’m giving it an extra star because both my 10 year old and 4 year old loved these books. If you added these books to your home library, your kids would enjoy them for years.

PS. Check out the fun way this teacher used these books in a classroom project: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/2017/What-If-You-Had-Animal-Body-Part-An-Adaptation-Project/