The Tooth by Avi Slodovnick, illustrated by Manon Gauthier
First published in Canada, this book speaks to the issues of plenty and need. Marissa has to go to the dentist because her tooth hurts from eating too much candy. On the way through the city streets, she notices a man sitting on a grate on the sidewalk to keep warm. Once inside the waiting room, Marissa heads to the window and watches the people passing the man. Some leave coins but most completely ignore him. When Marissa goes in to the dentist, her tooth has to be removed. So she gets it to take home with her, ready for the Toothfairy to get it from under her pillow. But Marissa has another idea and she gives her tooth to the man on the sidewalk so that he can get the coins from the Toothfairy. She also acknowledges that it is just a beginning because he doesn’t have a pillow to put the tooth under.
Slodovnick’s book emphasizes not only the divide between the haves and have nots, but also the way that we ignore needs right under our own feet. Marissa is a naïve character which allows her to ask questions that will interest other children and offer a solution that is simple but also complex. This is a book that gently opens the door to discussion about what a single person can do to make a difference.
Gauthier’s illustrations have a modern edge to them. The city is depicted as a gray towering presence while the main characters pop in color against the gray. The homeless man is also shown in color though the other people on the street are the same gray as the city itself.
A book sure to get children talking, this would work well in a unit about kindness, charity or helping. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy received from Kane Miller.
- Also reviewed by:
Waking Brain Cells 
Oooh, this makes my heart hurt.
Even the cover art is sweet and sort of imaginatively fuzzy — to allow a person to imagine themselves as the main character. I like that.
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I have to say that as a children’s librarian this book bothers me very much. A nice message or not I imagine MANY parents picking this up thinking it will help their child prepare for the dentist only to be wolloped with a very depressing tale of homelessness. The last page reads like a punch. How much more effective and heart-warming it would have been if you had put her tooth under her pillow and then taken the $ to the man the next day? That’s a conversation to have with a young child, but what do you say here? Well honey he has no pillow and your tooth is worth nothing so good luck? That’s a VERY intense concept and if a parent chooses to discuss is of course worth discussing, but if a parent is looking for bibliotherapy to help a child afraid of the dentist they will be left with a lot more to fear than that.
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I didn’t read it as depressing, more hopeful and empowering for children. The message is not that the tooth is worth nothing, but that she gave the homeless man what she had to give and with the best of intentions.
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