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
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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