bilbopooh's Full Review: Marc Tolon Brown - Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy: ...
Many of Marc Brown's early Arthur books deal with common childhood insecurities involving the body. Arthur considers getting a nose job because his own aardvark nose stands out so much. He fights against having to wear his glasses because his classmates tease him about them. And when he has a loose tooth, he can't wait to get rid of it because he's the last in his class to have his baby teeth. In Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy, losing teeth is old hat to Arthur, but his little sister D. W. wants in on the action. She's always following in her brother's footsteps, and this time, there's money involved, so she's especially interested.
Like many of the shorter stories in the Arthur series, this one is basically all about Arthur and D. W. As is generally the case, Arthur shows himself to be a real class act. He's a bit irritable with D. W. in the beginning as she tries to convince him that a tooth is loose when he knows she's too young for that to be likely, but toward the end, he goes the extra mile to see to it that D. W. succeeds in her scheme for tricking the tooth fairy, which involves leaving a shark tooth purchased at a museum under the pillow.
I can't help but wonder how much the shark tooth cost; surely it was more than the dollar D. W. intends to receive for the tooth, but since it's her mom paying for it, I don't suppose she's thinking about that! In general, D. W. is a rather self-absorbed person, and that comes through very clearly in this book. (She's also very stubborn; she's so stuck on the loose tooth idea that she goes to the dentist, a trip most kids would be keen to avoid!) Arthur, on the other hand, is often as concerned about the happiness of others as he is about his own.
There are some fun little imaginative side trips in this book. I especially enjoy Arthur's vision, conjured up in a rushed explanation to D. W. about what the Tooth Fairy does with her teeth, of a splendid castle made entirely out of teeth. I also like the brotherly concern he displays when he finds D. W. trying to yank one of her teeth out using the old string-and-door method. It's dubious enough for loose teeth; it's certainly not recommended for those with all teeth perfectly intact!
Arthur Tricks the Tooth Fairy is a mildly educational book, though Arthur's Tooth is probably the better book for children about to lose a tooth for the first time. Fans of the series might enjoy off-hand visual reference to such series staples as Bionic Bunny and Crunch cereal, while everyone who has a sibling will probably relate to the constant back-and-forth between Arthur and D. W., who doesn't know how lucky she is to have a big brother like him.
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