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Like many children his age, young Nick loses a tooth while eating his dinner and places it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Overjoyed to discover six dollars under his pillow, he shares the discovery with his friends at school, only to be presented with the question of what he thinks the Tooth Fairy does with all the teeth she collects from the children who lose them. The inquisitive Nick decides to get to the bottom of what the Tooth Fairy is all about and comes up with a foolproof plan.
It doesn’t take long before Nick’s sister Sam also loses a tooth, and Nick recognizes a chance to catch the Tooth Fairy in action, holding an all-night stakeout in his sister’s closet to get to the bottom of this mysterious question. When the Tooth Fairy shows up, Nick sees an opportunity to sneak out and follow her as she gets into a magical car after exchanging Sam’s teeth for money. The car takes flight and leads Nick to a magical realm where all of the wildlife is made up of lost teeth. He even witnesses the Tooth Fairy planting the teeth she collected in order to grow more trees and flowers. It isn’t long before Nick’s presence is discovered, but rather than scold or report the boy, the fairy kindly asks that he keep all of this a secret and not tell any of his friends at school or his sister. Nick agrees, is taken back home, and keeps his promise for many, many years.
The myth of the Tooth Fairy is one that children find completely appealing and captivating because it provides them with an unexpected benefit that appears to work like actual magic in their real lives. For some children, this is enough to accept, but others will use their inquisitive and growing minds to ask endless questions that parents will have to be equally creative and imaginative to work through. A book like this provides an entertaining story and something that a parent and child can read together while also expanding the mythology enough to satisfy the unexplained phenomena.
The story is written in a way that is not condescending or sly, and the earnestness of the text should be enough to convince children of its authenticity. The pages in this book contain either plain, large-type text on a single-color background or a distinctive, striking illustrative style that feels a bit like a collage. The separation of the two elements gives children plenty to look at and details to find in the layered images while also offering them full focus on the text so that they can learn the words and practice their reading skills. The pictures perfectly complement the text in tone and imagination and likely will encourage young readers to want to tell their own stories and illustrate with inspiration. A quick fable for the modern era that builds on a popular legend, this is a swift read that approaches its audience members on their level and helps to anticipate and answer their questions.