A FEW OTHER EVENTS FOR
FEBRUARY 28:
- Happy birthday Donna Jo Napoli (The King of Mulberry Street; Albert ), Megan McDonald (Judy Moody series), and Daniel Handler, pen name Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events).
- It’s the birth date of illustrator Sir John Tenniel (1820–1914), Alice in Wonderland, and author Dee Brown (1908–2002), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
- In 1977, the first killer whale was born in captivity. Read Killer Whales by Sandra Markle and Keiko’s Story: A Killer Whale Goes Home by Linda Moore Kurth.
- It’s Floral Design Day. Read Alison’s Zinnia by Anita Lobel and Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.
On February 28, Tooth Fairy Day commemorates our love and affection to the kindly tooth fairy and her generosity to children. Many retain wonderful childhood memories of placing a tooth under the pillow and finding some coins in the morning. But does the tooth fairy visit everyone—all over the globe?
In Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World author Selby B. Beeler explores the way different areas of the world celebrate when a child looses a tooth. It would appear that the tooth fairy has a fairly limited geographic range—Australia, Canada, Britain, and the U.S. In Mexico and Guatemala, El Raton, the magic mouse, aids children who lose teeth. Children in El Salvador receive a visit from a rabbit. In Botswana children throw their teeth on the roof. In Mali it goes in the chicken coop, with hopes for a big, fat hen. Divided by areas of the world and moving around the globe, Throw Your Tooth on the Roof presents small vignettes for sixty-five different locations; for each of them G. Brian Karas has fansioned a funny, realistic drawing.
If you simply want a story of the life of a contemporary tooth fairy, Australian comic genius Bob Graham’s April and Esme: Tooth Fairies, published in 2010, explores the trials and tribulations of would-be tooth fairies. After all, how do they know what to do? April is only seven, but she convinces her parents that she and her younger sister Esme can make their first attempt to rescue a tooth. In this modern family, although April is a “spirit of the air…magic,” her mother asks her to text if she gets in trouble. The young tooth fairies find the location, follow a line of toys to the bedroom, and remove their first tooth. At the end Mom and Dad hug them “til their wings cracked.” April and Esme: Tooth Fairies shows a functional family and also demonstrates the pride children feel in a job well done. As delightful as the story itself, the art contains just as many fabulous details—teeth hanging from the ceiling or a fairy taking a bath in a teacup. A perfect combination of pictures and text, this storybook not only delights young readers, it frequently brings requests for just one more reading.
Happy Tooth Fairy Day! I hope you keep all of your teeth today—but if you know a child who has just lost one, these books will go a long way toward reassuring them and making them feel that something magical could happen tonight.
Here’s a page from April and Esme: Tooth Fairies:
Originally posted February 28, 2011. Updated for .
I love Bob Graham’s fairies always. Another favorite lost tooth of mine is Penda Diakite’s I LOST MY TOOTH IN AFRICA illustrated by Baba WaguĂ© DiakitĂ©.
Thanks for the recommendation. I was amazed at how many good tooth fairy books exist. I hope others will weigh in with favorites today.
I think my favorite tooth fairy book is Toot & Puddle: Charming Opal. The scene where Puddle dresses up as the tooth fairy (in a shower curtain with coat-hanger wings) “just in case the tooth fairy doesn’t come to Woodcock Pocket” is just priceless.
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof is a great unique book but my favorite tooth fairy book is Anne Bowen’s Tooth Fairy’s First Night.
I just read this book as part of my picture book class and I was surprised at how creative and engaging it was. I mean, I expected to enjoy it but not to be really into the illustrations. I read it several times, just to hunt for details I’d missed on previous readings. It’s such a neat story because it takes a very familiar child fantasy, the tooth fairy, and recreates it, breathes new life into it by accounting for all kinds of practical things. I love the line “Text me if you need anything” ^_^ And when April is surprised that humans think tooth fairies are magical.
Overall, just a really fantastic read! I may go ahead and buy this one for myself!
I like Nice try, Tooth Fairy by Mary W. Olson. Silverlicious, the newest book in the Pinkalicious series, is about the tooth fairy.Silverlicious book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdXxDeVgSXE
I just love good tooth fairy books and Graham’s is particularly magical! If I had to choose a favorite though, it would be Dear Tooth Fairy by Alan Durant and Vanessa Caban.
Well, I’m the odd person out here. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a tooth fairy book.
So, I’m going to read this. The art looks great.
I have to say, reading this site every morning is just simply a happy time of the day.
Thanks everyone for tooth fairy recommendations It always makes me happy, at the end of the day, to see responses.
Both these recommendations are wonderful. I want to read all the traditions in the first book. Love the artwork in “April and Esme.”
The timing of this post is perfect in our household as well. Our youngest son lost his bottom two teeth … but lost them again before he could get them under his pillow. So his tooth fairy had quite the chore finding those. It took a few days before he got the gift under the pillow with a note to kindly remember where he places his teeth next time.
I really enjoyed “What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy” by Gregory Maguire – very original.
Call me old-fashioned, but one of my favorite tooth books is still McCloskey’s “One Morning in Maine.”
Maureen: I agree. I review it elsewhere on the Almanac (for chocolate/vanilla ice cream day) .. but it is hard to beat!
Children in Grade One are the perfect age for this book as they are all starting to need the tooth fairy. I read this book by Bob Graham but here in Australia it has a different title!!! It is called April Underhill tooth fairy. I also love The tooth ball by Philippa Pearce, The Hefty Fairy by Nicholas Allen, Andrew’s loose tooth by Robert Munch, The tooth Fairy by Peter Collington (a textless wonder!) and Wibble Wobble by Miriam Moss. We read books about lost teeth for about 5 weeks in our library.. a great topic!!
My favorite was called The Tooth Witch.