Eve Marleau

In this book, Arun goes to the dentist for the first time and is delighted to learn all about keeping his teeth healthy.

There are a lot of great things about this book. First and foremost, I was so excited to see a book with an Indian child as the main character - not only are these books rare, but usually they tend to be "ethnic" books such as Mama's Saris. While those kinds of books that talk about cultural diversity are great in their own respect, it's nice to see a book with a minority child doing something everyday, just as we frequently see such books for Caucasian kids. Teaching in a school with a very large population of children whose families are from India, this book seemed especially appropriate for my classroom. The book also has a diverse set of characters with people of various colors and ages visiting the dentist along with Arun.

Another great thing about this book is that it is straightforward and to the point. The book purports to "introduce children to commonplace situations in a light-hearted and informative way" and does exactly that. The author manages to discuss all the ins and outs of visiting the dentist and taking care of dental health without being overly didactic. The brightly colorful illustrations also help to liven up to the story. The illustrations are not exactly my most favorite style, but they are definitely of the type to appeal to young children (think Dora the Explorer-esque, if you will).

The big downside I see to this book is that it's billed as a "My First" and most children will probably already have been to the dentist long before they will the attention span and comprehension to go along with this book. In fact, I found that my toddler class did not really have interest in hearing this book through its completion, which is a shame. It might just have been the day, as they've certainly listened better to books just as long or even longer on occasion. That being said, this is likely still a good book for preschool-age children who may need a little reminder that visiting the dentist isn't so bad and/or why they need to take care of their dental health.… (meer)