Blog #20

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez

Written by: Rene Lainez

Illustrated by: Tom Lintern

Tricycle Press

2010

31 pages

Modern Fantasy

 

            I chose this book because of the fantasy elements of the story as well as the Latino heritage.  The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez is a simple book comparing and contrasting two folktales.  American oral traditions say that when a child loses a tooth, the tooth fairy comes to take the tooth to build sparkling castles.  In Latin American oral tradition, a little mouse named El Raton Perez comes for the tooth to build a rocket ship to fly to the moon.  The author has used this book opportunity to see the similarities and differences between the two folktales.  In the story a little of Latino descent lives in the United States and he loses his first tooth.  When he puts his tooth under his pillow that night both the Tooth Fairy and El Raton Perez come to collect the tooth.  After fighting over the tooth, the two decide to share it and accomplish both of their goals of visiting the Moon and building a castle.  There are many Spanish words and phrases throughout the book as well as a guide to the different cultures’ opinions about what happens to their lost teeth.

            The illustrations for this book were created by Tom Lintern.  Lintern used pencils to create the drawings and then edited them using Photoshop.  He used deep hues of the colors purple, blue, green, red, and brown throughout his depictions of the book.  There is a variety of single page and double page spreads throughout the book.  Formal text placement and informal text placement are both used as well.  I love how El Raton Perez is depicted as a Spanish conquistador-type mouse with a rope and appropriate dress.  The child’s room is very realistic with shadows and perfect detail.  I enjoy this type of clean and crisp illustration done by the editing of the computer.

            This book is appropriate for students from kindergarten all the way up to sixth grade.  There are so many things a teacher can do with this book.  Many different lessons can be adapted from it for any grade.  First off, I would use this book during Latino Heritage month when talking about the differences in culture and the Spanish language.  What a great way to open the door for conversation with my Latino students!  Also, this would be a great compare and contrast book.  The students could talk about the tooth fairy and compare her to El Raton Perez.  Also, this is a good book to introduce fiction to a younger grade.  Describing fiction is hard without examples.  This would be a great book to share elements that could never happen in real life.  I like this book because of the Spanish phrases and illustrations.  This book has won no awards.