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Loose Tooth

Name: Loose Tooth
Author: Anastasia Suen
ISBN: 9780142500644

by Anastasia Suen, Allan Eitzen (Illustrator), Ezra Jack Keats

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Overview

It's class photo day, and Peter has a looth tooth. If he loses the tooth, his smile will have a hole in it, just like in last year's picture. Then again, he'll get money from the tooth fairy, which would help him buy a new basketball!

Peter can't decide if he wants his loose tooth to fall out because if it falls out, he will have a gap in his smile for the school pictures, but money from the tooth fairy will help him buy a new basketball.

Synopsis

About the Author:
Ezra Jack Keats died in 1983 after winning numerous awards and creating over 85 books for children.

Skye Suttie - Children's Literature

It is picture day at Peter's school, and his tooth is loose. He can't decide whether he wants his tooth to stay in or not because he wants the money from the tooth fairy to buy a basketball, but he also would like to take his picture with all his front teeth. Once Peter and his friends arrive at school, they decide to play a quick game of basketball. It is a close game, and just when the ball is going to be passed to Peter, a boy from the other team knocks him down. The school bell rings, and as his friends help him up, Peter notices his tooth has fallen out! He is happy and smiles for his class picture because now he can buy his basketball. Although the story is not original, Eitzen's illustrations help to make this book multicultural. Peter and his friends are of different ethnic backgrounds, African American, Asian and Caucasian. This enables young readers to understand that race is not an issue among the characters and that children of all ethnicities share similar experiences. 2002, Viking/Penguin, Ages 5 to 8.

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Editorials

Children's Literature

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Ezra Jack Keats's characters come together at the bus stop on picture day, and Peter hopes his loose tooth will stay intact until the photo is snapped. His friends, Amy, Archie, and Lily, offer support and carry the story forward with believable, easy-to-read dialogue. Their round of pickup basketball may not accurately reflect the abilities of children this age, but emerging readers will enjoy following the game, which brings the narrative to a satisfying end despite the fact that Peter's tooth falls out. Eitzen's distinguished, double-page illustrations feature well-scrubbed characters with endearing faces; they are crisply imposed on cityscapes that reflect the look and colors of Keats's mixed-media illustrations. A story that celebrates friendship, basketball, and the legacy of the author/illustrator.-Laura Scott, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The questionable co-optation of cherished characters from classic children's literature continues, exemplified by this third entry by Suen and Eitzen in the Peter's Neighborhood series (Willie's Birthday, 2001, etc.). Peter, hero of the beloved Ezra Jack Keats classics The Snowy Day and Peter's Chair, is in third or fourth grade now, and he has a couple of mild problems. He wants his loose tooth to stay connected until school-picture day is over, and he wants a new basketball, but hasn't saved enough money to cover the cost. Peter and his friends from various Keats stories (Amy, Archie, and Lily) play a game of pick-up basketball on the playground with four other kids, and Peter's tooth falls out after he trips and falls. He cheerfully decides to "say cheese" for his school picture, knowing that he'll have enough money to buy a basketball after a visit from the tooth fairy. The sturdy but unexceptionable storyline lacks the flair of original work by Keats, and Eitzen's imitative illustrations are only a pale echo of Keatsian genius. Still, the third title in a series implies a certain level of success, so the series may well continue as Peter and his friends grow up. (Imagine the YA titles to follow: A Letter to Peter from Amy, Dreams in Apt. 3, and after Peter and Amy settle down together to raise a family, Peter's Rocking Chair.) (Easy reader. 5-8)