What do you think?
What If You Had
Quels drôles de cheveux!
Si tu pouvais avoir des poils d’animaux au lieu de cheveux, lesquels choisirais-tu?
Si tu avais la fourrure abondante d’un ours polaire, tu n’aurais pas à porter une tuque pour jouer dans la neige. Si tu avais le pelage d’un renne, tu pourrais flotter sur l’eau. Et si tes cheveux étaient comme les piquants d’un porc-épic, personne ne te dérangerait!
Grâce à ce livre, les enfants vont vivre de drôles d’aventures et vont découvrir ce qui leur arriverait si leurs cheveux étaient remplacés par le pelage d’une douzaine d’animaux différents. Le texte explique pourquoi chaque animal a un pelage parfaitement adapté à ses besoins.
Si tu avais la fourrure abondante d’un ours polaire, tu n’aurais pas à porter une tuque pour jouer dans la neige. Si tu avais le pelage d’un renne, tu pourrais flotter sur l’eau. Et si tes cheveux étaient comme les piquants d’un porc-épic, personne ne te dérangerait!
Grâce à ce livre, les enfants vont vivre de drôles d’aventures et vont découvrir ce qui leur arriverait si leurs cheveux étaient remplacés par le pelage d’une douzaine d’animaux différents. Le texte explique pourquoi chaque animal a un pelage parfaitement adapté à ses besoins.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
Sandra Markle
297 books95 followersSandra Markle is the author of more than two hundred children's books, which have won numerous awards, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, IRA/CBC Children's Choice, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Books for Children, NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended, and ALA Notable Books for Children. She lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida and frequently travels to schools sharing her program "Sandra Markle's Books Are REAL Adventures."
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
July 16, 2021
Ok, the gimmick doesn't detract, I learned a bit... until the end. What a let-down! The conclusion is to be happy with your own people hair, and this is how to take care of so it looks good. No resources or other back matter.
Well, that's my opinion. Apparently school kids love it (see other reviews).
Well, that's my opinion. Apparently school kids love it (see other reviews).
July 19, 2016
Not only is this book informational but it is fun! It is the perfect way to talk about animal adaptations while picturing yourself with animal hair. My 1st grades love to read these books, debate which animal hair they would want, and learn as they go. This is great for a read aloud or independent reading and it is a book that kids will continuously come back. Make sure to check out the other books in this series too,because they are all great!
March 5, 2020
Kids loved it!! It has great illustrations and facts and .. it’s wicked!! We are buying them all!
February 12, 2018
This boldly colored book features both illustrations and actual pictures of a variety of animals. Young children will enjoy imagining having hair like an animal and older children will enjoy the simple facts about each animal. Another great feature of this book is the diversity of the children featured in the illustrations.
September 2, 2015
Different animals have different kind of hair, and they all serve a purpose. What if you had Animal Hair!? dedicates each page to a different animal, some are well known, and some a bit more obscure. Each page shows a child with similar hair to animals such as porcupines, lions, zebras, and sloths, and more. A couple different fun facts litter each page. Markle and McWillian make a fantastic team in this series. I have already read What if you had Animal Teeth!? to a 3rd grade class, and they loved it! I have just requested that my new library, which has none of these books, buy the whole series. The illustrations are fantastic, they are funny and bold. The facts are informative and interesting for readers of all ages! I can't wait to learn about animal feet, which is new, and animal ears, which is coming in 2016. This book is proof that children's nonfiction can be awesome!
December 23, 2015
Fantastic illustrations and animal facts.
April 3, 2019
I discovered this book series in my Language Arts class for my master's program. My professor had several of these books for us to discuss. I was instantly drawn to the creativity of the series. The first book I chose was about animal hair, but they have others for eyes, noses, ears, teeth and so on. The book describes hair from animals such as, polar bears, lions, arctic foxes, and much more. The book supplies a lot of animal facts as well to correspond with the information about the types of hair. For instance, did you know the giant pangolin has razor-sharp scales which consist of the same substance as hair? Me either! The book even goes into detail about how our own hair is special, how it grows and how to take care of it. I plan to explore the other books in the series and will try to implement them into my future classes.
I think this book is a great example of an interesting and creative form of informational text. It is great to expose students to these types of expository texts, especially in the later elementary grades. First off, I would like to use this book to help children explore the use of text features and how they can help guide us through the book and supply information for comprehension. This book utilizes headings, sidebars, and picture captions. Doing a picture walk to highlight these features would be beneficial for the students understanding to the structure of informational texts. When a student becomes more familiar with a certain genre their comprehension for it increases. Another great activity we can use is have students create an extra page for the book. They would pick an animal not displayed or discussed, research it using technology such as a Chromebook, and create a page that mimics and uses the same text feature used in this book. I think this lesson would activate learning on all levels and be a lot of fun at the same time. After everyone, or group, finished we can put the pages together to "publish" a classroom copy of our own "What If You Had Animal Hair?"
I think this book is a great example of an interesting and creative form of informational text. It is great to expose students to these types of expository texts, especially in the later elementary grades. First off, I would like to use this book to help children explore the use of text features and how they can help guide us through the book and supply information for comprehension. This book utilizes headings, sidebars, and picture captions. Doing a picture walk to highlight these features would be beneficial for the students understanding to the structure of informational texts. When a student becomes more familiar with a certain genre their comprehension for it increases. Another great activity we can use is have students create an extra page for the book. They would pick an animal not displayed or discussed, research it using technology such as a Chromebook, and create a page that mimics and uses the same text feature used in this book. I think this lesson would activate learning on all levels and be a lot of fun at the same time. After everyone, or group, finished we can put the pages together to "publish" a classroom copy of our own "What If You Had Animal Hair?"
June 16, 2017
"What If You Had Animal Hair?" written by Sandra Marckle and illustrated by Howard McWilliam is the perfect informational text to introduce to your elementary school classrooms. This adorable story teaches children about polar bear's hair, reindeer's hair, oryx's hair, porcupine's hair, lion's hair, and the hair of countless other animals! Marckle and McWilliam do a fantastic job making the information in the text relevant to students' lives by incorporating humorous illustrations of what humans would look like if they had hair like animals. Marckle explains if you had a polar bear's hair, you would never have to wear a hat when playing in the snow. If you had a porcupine's hair, no bully would ever bother you again. If you had a three-toed sloth's hair, you'd never be alone because of the algae, your hair would be home to many different types of insects.
What If You Had Animal Hair is an incredibly engaging, captivating story. The author does a great job selecting the most interesting, crazy facts about animal's hair. Students can discuss how something as simple as the hair of an animal can be so interesting! In addition, students can discuss which animal's hair they would want the most, and select evidence from the text to support their claims. Must-read!
What If You Had Animal Hair is an incredibly engaging, captivating story. The author does a great job selecting the most interesting, crazy facts about animal's hair. Students can discuss how something as simple as the hair of an animal can be so interesting! In addition, students can discuss which animal's hair they would want the most, and select evidence from the text to support their claims. Must-read!
Read
October 14, 2019Summary
What if you had animal hair is a nonfiction story about a variety of different animals and their hair. The book talks about many animals. These animals are a polar bear, reindeer, musk ox, oryx, lion, zebra, three-toed sloth, arctic fox, giant pangolin, porcupine, and a star nosed mole. The book also has fun facts, and what you would be like if you had the hair of that specific animal.
Evaluation
Students really enjoy this book. It’s funny, and interesting. The illustrations are engaging, and exciting. My only complaint is how it only talks about hair and nothing else. You could not use this book for more than information and facts about an animals’ hair, fur, or coat.
Teaching Point
With this book is I would read it out loud a little bit every day. When I finish the book, I would have a picture taken of all the students and they would be able to pick out their favorite animal, and glue the hair onto their own picture. The students could then write about what they would do, or look like with that hair. They could use information they learned from the book to talk and write about how the hair would help them in certain situations.
What if you had animal hair is a nonfiction story about a variety of different animals and their hair. The book talks about many animals. These animals are a polar bear, reindeer, musk ox, oryx, lion, zebra, three-toed sloth, arctic fox, giant pangolin, porcupine, and a star nosed mole. The book also has fun facts, and what you would be like if you had the hair of that specific animal.
Evaluation
Students really enjoy this book. It’s funny, and interesting. The illustrations are engaging, and exciting. My only complaint is how it only talks about hair and nothing else. You could not use this book for more than information and facts about an animals’ hair, fur, or coat.
Teaching Point
With this book is I would read it out loud a little bit every day. When I finish the book, I would have a picture taken of all the students and they would be able to pick out their favorite animal, and glue the hair onto their own picture. The students could then write about what they would do, or look like with that hair. They could use information they learned from the book to talk and write about how the hair would help them in certain situations.
November 19, 2017
Nonfiction
Summary:
This book describes the different hair of a dozen animals and how it is helpful for that specific species. It teaches students with words and images of how hair can help with an animals’ survival. The end of the book helps students understand why their hair is the way it is.
Evaluation:
This is a fun and educational book for students. It has a cartoon component that draws the attention of the student but includes real images of animals with fun facts. I loved the three-toed sloth hair… if you had it, you would never be alone because of the algae growing in it. Gross!
Teaching Ideas:
This is great when introducing non-fiction texts in the classroom. Another activity could be opinion writing, prior to reading the story students would choose an animal that they would like to switch hair with. Not only would they write an opinion piece explaining why, they would also include an illustration.
Summary:
This book describes the different hair of a dozen animals and how it is helpful for that specific species. It teaches students with words and images of how hair can help with an animals’ survival. The end of the book helps students understand why their hair is the way it is.
Evaluation:
This is a fun and educational book for students. It has a cartoon component that draws the attention of the student but includes real images of animals with fun facts. I loved the three-toed sloth hair… if you had it, you would never be alone because of the algae growing in it. Gross!
Teaching Ideas:
This is great when introducing non-fiction texts in the classroom. Another activity could be opinion writing, prior to reading the story students would choose an animal that they would like to switch hair with. Not only would they write an opinion piece explaining why, they would also include an illustration.
June 4, 2021
Non-Fiction Informational, with a twist
3-6
Fun, easy to read book that asks: what if you woke up one day with the hair of an animal, what would you look like and what would it enable you to do differently? There are eleven animals with 2-page spreads. Each spread has two photos of the animal, a paragraph describing the animal's hair, a fun fact at the bottom, then a full page illustration of a kid with hair like the animal's hair.
After the eleven animals, there are several pages about it's good to have our own human hair, followed by two pages of facts about human hair (how it grows, how to care for it, etc.)
Animals included: star-nosed mole, porcupine, pangolin, artic fox, three-toed sloth, zebra, lion, oryx, musk ox, reindeer, and polar bear.
Text set ideas: animal adaptations, human body
Materials note: the paper of the pages in this series is incredibly easy to tear, very thin.
3-6
Fun, easy to read book that asks: what if you woke up one day with the hair of an animal, what would you look like and what would it enable you to do differently? There are eleven animals with 2-page spreads. Each spread has two photos of the animal, a paragraph describing the animal's hair, a fun fact at the bottom, then a full page illustration of a kid with hair like the animal's hair.
After the eleven animals, there are several pages about it's good to have our own human hair, followed by two pages of facts about human hair (how it grows, how to care for it, etc.)
Animals included: star-nosed mole, porcupine, pangolin, artic fox, three-toed sloth, zebra, lion, oryx, musk ox, reindeer, and polar bear.
Text set ideas: animal adaptations, human body
Materials note: the paper of the pages in this series is incredibly easy to tear, very thin.
September 17, 2017
Summary
This book talks about different types of animals and their hair. If you were still a human and you had their hair. This story uses creative and fun facts about the animal.
Evaluation
This is a harder read, it is difficult to pronounce some of the animal names. Although, it is fun and interesting to kids when reading this. This book is short and explains about 6 animals and facts. This book can be used for any grade level, but they will need help reading.
Teaching Ideas
I used this book to teach my kids about the different animals for Science. They were able to use their Science vocabulary to write about what animal they wanted to be like. This is a great way to teach kids about animals, but let them learn themselves the fun facts.
This book talks about different types of animals and their hair. If you were still a human and you had their hair. This story uses creative and fun facts about the animal.
Evaluation
This is a harder read, it is difficult to pronounce some of the animal names. Although, it is fun and interesting to kids when reading this. This book is short and explains about 6 animals and facts. This book can be used for any grade level, but they will need help reading.
Teaching Ideas
I used this book to teach my kids about the different animals for Science. They were able to use their Science vocabulary to write about what animal they wanted to be like. This is a great way to teach kids about animals, but let them learn themselves the fun facts.
November 24, 2019
1. Summary
This book tells about what might happen if our hair was the hair of a certain animal. The book also has funny, yet informative text and illustrations. This allows for the reader to visualize having the same hair of the unusual animals listed in the book.
2.Review
This is a great book to teach students about animal hair. This book introduces unusual animals to students like a three-toed sloth, a giant pangolin and a star-nosed mole. This book is a great resource to teach young children about these unusual animals and students learn even more about their hair.
3. Connected Books
WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH? By Howard McWilliam
WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL FEET? By Howard McWilliam
4. Quote
And if you had a porcupine's hair, no bully would ever bother you again!” - Narrator
This book tells about what might happen if our hair was the hair of a certain animal. The book also has funny, yet informative text and illustrations. This allows for the reader to visualize having the same hair of the unusual animals listed in the book.
2.Review
This is a great book to teach students about animal hair. This book introduces unusual animals to students like a three-toed sloth, a giant pangolin and a star-nosed mole. This book is a great resource to teach young children about these unusual animals and students learn even more about their hair.
3. Connected Books
WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH? By Howard McWilliam
WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL FEET? By Howard McWilliam
4. Quote
And if you had a porcupine's hair, no bully would ever bother you again!” - Narrator
October 9, 2018
This is a companion book to WHAT IF YOU HAD ANIMAL TEETH. I love these books because they are informative, fun to read and have great illustrations! They tick all the boxes. Who knew that the scales which cover giant pangolins are made of the same material as hair? Or that porcupine quills are actually very stiff hair? Or that the hair of a star-nose mole can lie flat in any direction, which is handy when you spend your life in tunnels going forward and backward. Who knew indeed ?! Besides kids will love imagining the kind of animal hairdo that might grow on their heads or yours!
January 27, 2020
This book talks about a variety of different types of animals and there hair. It then explains what it would be like if humans had that kind of hair. This book would be great for primary readers because of its silly illustrations and sense of imagination. As a teacher I would most likely not read this book aloud just because it is long, however, I would definitely recommend it to students who are interested in learning about different animals.
Read
June 24, 2021I read this to a group of about 12 kids and they loved it. The book and over all question "What if you had animal hair?", really makes the kids ponder and use their imagination. We stopped and discussed each animal and their fur. The images are very realistic and colorful. Their are more books in this series, "What if you had animal feet? or What if you had animal eyes?". Great for younger students in K-3.
December 2, 2018
I thought the concept of this book was genius! It was pretty funny to see what humans would look like with different wild animals hair. I love that it gave examples of what humans could do differently if they had different hair. For example, having polar bear hair would keep you super warm in winter.
Grade: 1-3
Genre: Informational
Grade: 1-3
Genre: Informational
June 11, 2019
This is a great book for storytime or sharing love of animals with children! The author did a good job of picking animals that children would recognize as well as some (pangolin!) that they may not. The artist does a tremendous job illustrating what humans would look like with the hair of the animal! I look forward to sharing this book with my little cousins!
November 27, 2019
This book is great! It shows the type of hair that different animals have, like reindeer's heavy coat of hair helps them float in the water! I also love how it shows other facts about the animal at the very bottom of the page. I will use these books to help my students understand more about animals!
September 4, 2019
Written in a way that is interesting for kids, by asking "What if YOU had animal hair?" and all the things they'd be able to do, ending with some facts about hair and how it grows. The illustrations are just excellent! We own a copy and have read it numerous times. Thumbs up.
January 27, 2020
I don't love these, but my 9 year old does. She loves fact filled books, where I love living text more. So I'm taking these off our "to read aloud" list and handing them off to her for independent reading.
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April 7, 2020This book goes through and talks about a handful of different animals and relates them to the child in the story, saying what if he had this hair, or you. It is very informational and shows how the animals are different. I would do this read aloud when the lessons are over environment.
May 3, 2020
This is a book that teaches kids about animals fur, feathers, etc. in a fun way! It then tells them what it would be like if a person had that hair which makes it more fun and more interesting and entertaining.
June 13, 2017
My 2nd graders enjoyed listening to this book and looking at the pictures during our Animal Studies Unit. Fun book!
October 22, 2017
This book teaches about animals in such a fun and engaging way! The illustrations and pictures compliment the facts and help kids relate to unique animals in a way they understand. Informational
December 14, 2017
What If You Had Animal Hair? (Paperback)
by Sandra Markle
a great book for showing animal adaptions and making kids take care of their hair, and appearance.
by Sandra Markle
a great book for showing animal adaptions and making kids take care of their hair, and appearance.
July 12, 2018
My son loves this whole series of books!
December 4, 2018
Really fun way of introducing animal facts in a personal way.
July 6, 2019
Loved it! I can’t wait to recommend this series of books to my students.
November 19, 2019
This is a really great book for children to see how animals hair is different from us.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews