Sure to win over young fairy lovers about to lose their first teeth.
Tired of tooth brushing battles? Try tempting your early grade schooler with this debut picture book and plush set in the tradition of Elf on the Shelf.
If you think there’s only one tooth fairy, think again: “The head tooth fairy’s job is just impossible to do. / So she has a school of fairy friends to help her get to you.” According to this delightfully illustrated picture book, every child has a tooth fairy in training assigned to him or her to help keep an eye on tooth brushing habits. These fairies have to report back to the fairy boss and let her know whether the child is doing a good job; they also note what the child is interested in, so the fairies can plan the best gift for when those teeth fall out. Once the first loose tooth falls out, the fairy can take it back to Fairyland and become an official tooth fairy. The book has spaces for personalization, including an illustration where the child’s name can be placed on a tooth cup and a space for the child to name her fairy. The final page offers a tooth chart, where the date, tooth number, and surprise left by the fairy can all be listed. The child-friendly illustrations feature both children and fairies of different genders and ethnicities, and the text often becomes part of the illustration, with big, bold letters encouraging beginning readers to participate in lap reading. The magic of tooth fairy presents has its usual appeal and is presented here without too much emphasis on the size of the gift (the suggested range is “a coin or special toy”). Some parents may be frustrated with the spying-plush-toy technique of discipline, which, à la Elf on the Shelf and Mensch on a Bench, implies that a toy will leave the house to report a child’s behavior to a disciplinarian; there’s a bit of a Big Brother mentality there. Nevertheless, some parents may find that the technique offers much-needed relief from tooth brushing woes. The suggested price point for the boxed set is quite high in comparison to similar kits, and it offers no personalization of the doll, but the production quality of both the book (with its glittered cover and thick matte pages) and the plush toy are equally high.
Sure to win over young fairy lovers about to lose their first teeth.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-28812-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Teeth Fairies
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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