Book Review For Brush Barry Brush by Linda Valderrama

Brush Barry Brush by Linda Valderrama R.D. H

Illustrations by: Sudi Memarzadeh
Publisher: Shirley’s Girl Publications
ISBN Number: 978-0-578-06605-9
Publication Date: 1/2011
Pages: 32

Linda Valderrama R.D.H. has over 25 years experience as a dental hygienist. She has treated patients from ages two to one hundred years old and has successfully developed preventative oral hygiene programs tailored to individual needs. Linda is a strong believer that good oral hygiene leads to overall health and well being and that good daily habits must be acquired early in life. Her book helps parents to work with their children to achieve this goal. She is working towards developing programs for schools, assisted living facilities and healthcare institutions to enable them to offer more effective oral hygiene programs.

Linda is a member of the American Dental Hygienists Association, the California Dental Hygienists Association and the San Diego Dental Hygienists Society. Her book “Brush Barry Brush” is to help parents and young children work together to achieve the simple but very important goal that every time you eat, you should brush your teeth.




Review:

Brush Barry Brush is a good way to encourage children to consistently brush their teeth.

This story is simply told for those younger children who are 4-8 years of age. From the very beginning a child eats a piece of food and right afterwards, brushes their teeth. Each child eats food that interests them and matches their particualr tastes. Penelope eats pasta, Ben eats broccoli, so on and so forth. Each food starts with the same letter of the child's name. Some foods are healthy, some are not, which could lead to discussion about appropriate snacking and nutrition. After several children were discussed eating a piece of food, they brush their teeth. Each example has the same result--the children brush their teeth each time they eat either a meal or a snack. Then there was a boy named Barry who forgot to brush his teeth after eating blueberries. His teeth had become stained and turned blue. Will Barry brushing his teeth clean those stains away?

The message of this book is clear. Brush your teeth each time you eat! This is a great story that emphasizes to children the importance of brushing their teeth often and daily.

This reviewer can see, however, where some older children might lose interest in the story because of it's simplicity and constant repetitiveness. The illustrations show children eating and brushing their teeth, mostly at home, but in other places as well. The pages contain a constant relaying message, saying the same words repeatedly, which sinks the message in for the younger children, but will not stimulate older children. Older children will want to know more, but no other information is explained in the book, only the message of, "Brush your teeth each time you eat!" Having more thourough information in the back of the book would have tied everything together for the reader giving them more information, satisfying the desires and needs for varying age groups.

The author delivers a fantastic message. Parents need to emphasize to their children the importance of brushing their teeth. A great addition to this story would be for every parent to have their child talk with their dentist or dental hygienist about healthy teeth and having a healthy mouth overall. Parents should have their child brush for at least two minutes, this should have been emphasized, and if they should floss or not. This story is meant to scratch the surface on having good oral hygiene. It does not go in depth, which will make the message easier for younger children to understand. The illustrations are bright and expressive, driving the message of the story home.

The author adds a great chart in the back of the book for children to use when keeping track of how many times they brush their teeth. She provides a month full of stickers to use, which results in a child brushing their teeth about 4-5 times a day.  Overall, this story expresses a great message and is a good beginning to understanding and having good oral hygiene.

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Book Giveaway ends July 31, 2011


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