The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez - Hardcover

Colato Laínez, René

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582462968 ISBN 13: 9781582462967

Publisher: Tricycle Press, 2010

Synopsis

The Tooth Fairy has some competition.
 
Meet El Ratón Pérez, the charming and adventurous mouse who collects children’s teeth in Spain and Latin America.
 
When both the Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez arrive to claim Miguelito’s tooth, sparks fly under the Mexican-American boy’s pillow. Who will rightfully claim his tooth?
 
This magical tale introduces a legendary Latino character to a new audience and provides a fresh take on the familiar
childhood experience of losing one’s tooth.

About this title

About the Author

René Colato Lainez has authored several picture books including Playing Lotería and I Am René, the Boy. His books have won a Críticas magazine Best Book award, a Latino Book Award for Best Bilingual Picture Book, and were Tejas Star Book Award Finalists. René is a children's literature columnist for La Bloga and received a special recognition as teacher and author by the Los Angeles Board of Education. He graduated from Vermont College with an M.F.A. in Writing for Childen and Young Adults.

Tom Lintern is a designer, illustrator, and storyboard artist living in New York City. He began drawing in pencil when he was five and still uses pencil on paper for much of his work today. The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez is his first picture book.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2—When Miguelito hides his lost tooth under his pillow, he has no idea that he is setting off a power struggle between the English-speaking world's Tooth Fairy and her Spanish-speaking counterpart, El Ratón Pérez. The fairy says, "Here is my tooth!," and the mouse replies, "¡Aquí está, mi diente!" This clever tactic helps English-speaking children learn Spanish phrases, and vice versa. The conflict is resolved when the tooth collectors learn to work together, imparting a universal lesson about sharing and cooperation. Young readers may not consciously recognize this tale as a metaphor for growing up in two cultures, but the story does model how to successfully negotiate a bicultural life by celebrating both aspects of Miguelito's Mexican-American heritage. Lintern's pencil illustrations were edited in Photoshop to give them a sparkly, ethereal quality that perfectly suits this modern fairy tale. The back matter includes the origins of tooth-collecting creatures in the folklore of English and Hispanic cultures. An excellent selection for libraries serving bicultural families.—Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Miguelito wiggled and jiggled his loose tooth until one night, it fell out.
 
“Yay! Mi diente, my tooth,” he said, and put it under his pillow.
 
Soon Miguelito fell asleep.
 
 
Far away in her castle, the Tooth Fairy read fan letters, counted coins, and searched for addresses.
 
When she saw a star begin to twinkle in the sky, she rushed for her magic wand.
 
“Fantastic! The signal!” she said. “A new tooth!”

Edition details

• Publisher: Tricycle Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1582462968
• ISBN 13: 9781582462967
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Lintern Tom
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32