Product Description

Travel around the world and discover the surprising things children do when they lose a tooth. Selby B. Beeler spent years collecting traditions from every corner of the globe for this whimsical book, and G. Brian Karas adds to the fun, filling every page with humorous detail. He perfectly captures the excitement and pride that children experience when a tooth falls out.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77663 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
Eat your heart out, tooth fairy. According to the informal research of the author, the world is full of other, equally fascinating myths and traditions about what happens, or should be done, when those milk choppers part company with childish gums. If you come from Chile or Costa Rica, your parents will have the tooth made into a charm. If you're Venezuelan, you put the tooth under your pillow and hope that a mouse brings you money. (Oddly enough, mice, milk teeth, and money are associated all over the world.) Playful illustrations by G. Brian Karas include a world map, plus lots of fun depictions of the world's dentally challenged junior inhabitants. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly
Children from countries on each continent explain what they do when they lose a tooth, including throwing their teeth on the roof. PW called this volume "an eye-opener for young Americans who may have assumed that the Tooth Fairy holds a worldwide visa." Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-8. If children think a visit from the Tooth Fairy is the only way to trade in baby teeth, they're in for a surprise. Beeler's funny and intriguing sampling of lost-tooth traditions from around the world shows that teeth are every bit as likely to end up down a mouse hole, in the stomach of a dog, or on the roof of a house, as they are under a pillow. Written as first-person statements, the customs, identified by country, are accompanied by a small illustration in which Karas attempts to capture some distinctive feature of the area--koalas in Australia, the Eiffel Tower in France, a thatched-roof dwelling in Cameroon. The artwork doesn't always achieve the goal, but it's consistently lively and comical. For children curious about teeth in general, Beeler has rounded up some basic facts to which Karas has added a nicely captioned picture of a mouth opened to reveal a stunning array of pearly whites. Lots and lots of fun. Stephanie Zvirin

Customer Reviews

Love it!
We found this book in our dentist's office and it kept my kids occupied with no thought of their about-to-happen visit. What a stroke of brilliance to have this in the waiting room. When we left, I saw an older man reading it and he had a big smile on his face. My dentist said she's been giving a copy to graduating dental students ... of course. My cousin's graduating from dental school next spring, so I'm glad to have THAT gift problem solved. Besides, it's fun to read. Who would have thought that tooth-losing traditions would be different all over the world? My kids started asking what else is the same but different with kids in other countries--good question.

I loved it.
I am a second year dental hygiene student and have recently been reading many tooth fairy tales. I loved the way the author showed the similarities as well as the differences of the world tooth traditions. I brought the book into our college clinic; those that had the chance to read the book loved all the different stories as well. Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World, by Selby B. Beeler, was a joy to read.

Great Fun for Little Ones
The kids love this book! Concerned about losing their baby teeth, the kids with whom I've read this book are intrigued to learn that they are not the only ones in the world who lose their teeth and do something special with them. A must-read for the tooth-losing age group!