You think it's easy being the tooth fairy?

PreS-Gr 1-The tooth fairy begins her story by correcting misinformation about her manner of dress: "I NEVER wear pink flouncing skirts or twinkling glass slippers! That's Cinderella." To explain her go-it-alone attitude, she says: "I DON'T rely on elves to help me out or flying reindeer to get me around. That's Santa." She describes herself as athletic, graceful, self-reliant, brave, strong, and smart. She searches through dirty socks, pajama pockets, and clenched fists to gather fallen teeth while hauling around heavy quarters and avoiding common household pets. Her over-the-top confidence and audacious attitude strain the "likability" factor of this long-winded fairy as she explains her responsibilities. Richly colored, humorous illustrations, rendered in acrylic and oil paints, pencil, and ballpoint pen, are the highlight of this tale. The pictures reveal a redheaded sprite in purple who is always accompanied by three assistant lightning bugs. Her mode of transportation is a flat, tooth-shaped, booster-powered board as she collects teeth from children throughout the country. But the question still remains, what does she do with all those teeth? An additional purchase, this is a wordy book about an illustrious but illusive childhood fantasy.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Bell-Rehwoldt's spunky spitfire of a redheaded tooth fairy defies historical conceptions. She is strong, smart and agile. She dismisses Cinderella as lazy. She is a modern fairy for the techno age and, she points out, "an action kind of gal. I live for danger!" Instead of flying, she zips around on a turbo surfboard. She invented the amazing Tooth-o-Finder that alerts her to lost teeth all over the world and uses her Spy-o-Binoculars to scope her entry into the house. She spends much of this book describing her many talents and abilities, such as gracefully avoiding household pets, but she also tutors the reader on tooth etiquette. There's a section on dos and don'ts regarding tooth-placement, advising, among other points, never to wrap it in a smelly sock. Having been stripped of her dainty, gentle, winged ways, this may not be the tooth fairy for every child. However, others will surely vigorously embrace her gusto. Slonim's energetic paintings are humorous and showcase the tooth fairy's vim and vigor in saturated colors and clever perspectives. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.