The Tooth

Slodovnick, A., & Gauthier, M. (2010). The Tooth. OK: Kane Miller.

Read on Storylineonline.com

Lexile Score: N/A

Summary: When Marissa has a toothache, her mother decides to take her to the dentist. On the way there, Marissa notices a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk. After the dentist pulls her tooth out and tells her to put it under her pillow, she makes a thoughtful decision to give her tooth to the homeless man, so that he can get money from the tooth fairy. If only he had a pillow…

Evaluation: The one stereotype that I noticed was the typical older looking man being the “homeless man.” The emotions that are carried through this book are very prevalent. The tone alone allows readers to feel sorry for the homeless man and thankful for the young girl. The dark and depressing looking illustrations help add to this emotion.

The storyline is great because there are a lot of homeless people in the world and can be very relatable, especially to people that live in the city areas. It’s also a unique storyline in that it takes the reader from the dentist to a homeless man on a street. Most people would never think of connecting the two together or relating one to the other. The characters involved in this story are very different each other, the mother included.

There is a great lesson to be learned. Not that you should always give to homeless people, but to be grateful for what you have, and sometimes it is good to give to others who are less fortunate than yourself. It teaches children that sharing and giving can be done even when you don’t have a lot of money like how Marissa gave the man her tooth.

Literary elements: Setting- Marissa’s house, the dentist’s office, the downtown streets

Theme- Giving can be done at any age with any amount of money, or lack thereof.

Tone- The tone is sorrow, gratefulness, and giving based on the illustrations and overall theme.

Mini lesson: I would teach a mini lesson to my students about sharing and giving. We would talk about the less fortunate and how giving to others has a positive effect on not just that person, but it can be rewarding for yourself as well. We could discuss what to do if you see a homeless person and how to react. It would be an open class discussion.

Target Audience: 1^st- 4^th grade because this is the age range for children who will understand the importance of giving and the positive effect it has on society.