BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSWhat If You Had Animal Eyes? is a nonfiction picture book about waking up one morning with a wild animal's eyes on your face instead of your own. Sandra Markle walks through eleven real animals, and each one gets a page of true eye facts facing a cartoon of a kid using those very eyes in everyday life. A boy with dragonfly eyes never misses a thing as a reporter covering a zoo escape, a girl with clouded leopard eyes stays perfectly calm exploring a dark haunted house, and a boy with bullfrog eyes closes his eyes just to swallow one giant bite at a holiday dinner.
Free Battle of the Books questions for What If You Had Animal Eyes?
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about What If You Had Animal Eyes?. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a lizard watch for crickets in two directions at once?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
This is the chameleon's headline trick. Each eye moves separately, so one can look left while the other looks right, and the book uses crickets as the example meal. Once the chameleon spots one, it aims both eyes at it so it does not miss.
- First half
In what book does a girl look amused instead of frightened inside a dark haunted house?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
This is the clouded leopard cartoon. Leopard eyes see so well in the dark that the girl can spot everything hiding in the gloom, so nothing in the haunted house can jump out and surprise her.
- First half
In what book can a frog hide underwater and still watch for enemies?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
A bullfrog's eyes sit right on top of its head, so it can sink its body under the water and leave only its eyes above. Its eyes are also far apart, letting it see nearly all the way around without turning its head.
- Second half
In what book does a yellow mongoose stand tall on its hind feet to peek over bushes?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
This bonus fact sits in the purple box at the bottom of the mongoose page, with a small photo of two mongooses and one standing straight up. Wide vision only helps if nothing is blocking the view, so the mongoose rises onto its back feet to see over the brush.
- Second half
In what book do a llama's thick, bushy eyelashes work as sunshades?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
Llamas live in bright, sunny places, so they get two kinds of sun protection. The crystals inside the eye darken the pupils, and the heavy lashes outside shade the eye like a little awning.
- Near the end
In what book could a ballplayer "watch for base stealers in time to throw them out"?
✓ Answer
What If You Had Animal Eyes? by Sandra Markle
This is the tarsier cartoon. Since a tarsier can turn its head far enough around to look over its shoulder, a kid with those eyes could keep track of a runner sneaking toward the next base.
