When little one’s school announced that they were having a school-wide reading fair project I was excited! When I explained to little one what it was about we had a hard time picking a book. He loves all of his books, and all the books are his “favorites.”
However, I do have to confess I did kind of “push” the book “The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez.” For me it was about embracing his two cultures, and sharing it with the world (OK, I mean the school). We’ve read the book hundreds of times, and he knew it by heart.  Little one is quite fond of el “ratoncito.”
I gathered all of the materials to work on his poster board.  Sticky letters for the title, a print-out of a tooth, paint, glitter, paint brushes, and of course, the book!
I wanted to recreate the cover of the book, so I had little man work on painting the night sky.  He colored the tooth fairy, added the glitter, and he put the title of book at the top.  Furthermore, I asked him the questions to include on the poster board (you can see them below) that I typed up, and glued to his  project:
 
Author: René Colato Laínez

Publisher and copyright date: Tricycle Press, 2010

Main characters: Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez
Setting: Night time in Miguelito’s bedroom

Plot summary:

Miguelito loses a tooth, and both the Tooth Fairy (she collects lost teeth from children in United States, and English-speaking countries) and El Ratón Pérez (he collects lost teeth from children in Latin America, and Spain) are going to claim the tooth, but they are both surprised to see each other. El Ratón Pérez already has the tooth, and they start fighting over who gets to keep it.

Conflict summary:
Both the Tooth Fairy and Ratón Pérez are pulling and pushing the tooth. Then they lose it, and when they find it by the book shelf neither one of them can get to it.

Solution/resolution:

They finally agree on helping each other to recover the lost tooth and in the end they share it with each other.

Author’s purpose:  Entertain.

Tone/mood: Happy and amused.
I love how little one’s project turned out, and he was very happy about it. He was actually the only one in his classroom to work on the reading fair project.  He was awarded a certificate, and a free meal to a fancy restaurant.
This book is very special to me because I grew up finding coins under my pillow from “el ratoncito”; and now our child will have the best of both cultures.

I love how the author brought together two totally different cultures, and traditions into a beautiful children’s story book. Both the Tooth Fairy, and El Ratón Pérez are claiming Miguelito’s tooth; and the author does an excellent job in conveying a message of acceptance through their differences and similarities.  The illustrations are beautiful, and cartoonish which makes it fun to look at; and the story line although in English has words in Spanish as well.

I would highly recommend this book as a multicultural addition to any home library.

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14 Comments

  1. I've never heard of a book fair like this…what a neat thing to have! I bet it gets kids really excited about reading. Love your book choice! I have never heard of it, so now I can put it on my list to check out. 🙂

  2. I love how this multicultural mash up of tooth fairies!! Thanks so much for linking up to our Multicultural Children's Book Day!!!

  3. Thank you for creating such a lovely project for the Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez.

    saludos,

    René Colato Laínez

  4. What a great book for your son!! I'll bet that when he loses his first tooth, he'll have dreams of the Tooth Fairy and El Raton Perez fighting over it – so sweet! My mother-in-law just recently told me that she grew up with a mouse coming to collect her teeth – I'll have to find out more about where that tradition originated.

  5. What a great idea for a book! I've got a friend who is from that part of the world and I'm always on the lookout for books that mix the two cultures – this sounds perfect 🙂

  8. Awe you're welcome, and thank you for bringing together two beautiful traditions, and cultures so beautifully!

  10. Oh wow Jody, please do find out more about such a fun tradition! I'm sure she has plenty of more stories to share! Thanks for stopping by!

  13. Thank you for sharing this one! It's awesome to see such a wonderful project. And of course for joining us at the KLBH once again. See you again this week, I hope 🙂

  14. I love that this book has the two fight over the tooth. What a fab idea. Sounds like a great book. Thank you for sharing it on MCCBD!

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