Watch Your Mouth

Watch Your Mouth! Discover What’s Alive Inside

Right now billions and billions of fungi, bacteria and viruses are coating your tongue, scumming up your teeth and flavoring your breath. There are more microbes in your mouth than there are people on earth. Horrible? Maybe. Healthy? For sure!


Your mouth is home to amazing mix of tiny critters. Because it’s wet, warm cave, washed with a constant food supply it’s a perfect place for microbes to thrive. Worried? Don’t be. In fact, having a good mix of microbes keeps you healthy. So open wide and discover, experiment, observe. Get friendly with your billions of secret micro pals. This book tells you how and why you will want to Watch Your Mouth! 


This book is for middle grade readers (ages 9-12) and educators. It is a lighthearted look inside your mouth. It is also serious science, vetted by research scientists.    New discoveries about how microbes affect human health have gotten a lot of media attention. Very little is written for kids about how microbes affect human health. The mouth is microbe hotspot, and a great place to introduce children to the idea that their microbes matter. Having a happy, healthy mouth IS a hands on activity. This books tells how.


About the Authors

Linda Allison is the author of many kids’ books including Blood and Guts, a Hands-On Guide to your Own Insides (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 1976, in press for 38 years. It’s currently listed on Amazon’s Best Seller’s for children’s books on biology).


Dr. Rebecca Smith trained as a biochemist and is now Co-director of the Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP) at the University of California at San Francisco medical center.   She is currently collaborating with the non-profit 826National.org on a book of science lessons (for in and afterschool time) designed to inspire student writing that will be published by Jossey-Bass in 2015.


Dr. Judy Diamond is a biologist, science educator, professor and curator of informal science education at the University of Nebraska State Museum. Diamond is lead author of the graphic story, World of Viruses (University of Nebraska Press 2012), Concealing Coloration in Animals (Harvard University Press 2013), and Kea, Bird of Paradox (University of California 1999; funded with research grants from National Geographic).


Watch Your Mouth was developed with support the National Institutes of Health.   Science Education Partnership Award (NIH SEPA) funds are available to help produce, disseminate and promote this book through science festivals and other outreach efforts.