The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story
by
Bob Graham
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Candlewick
Imprint
Candlewick
ISBN
9781536211122
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
With their parents off on an urgent molar pickup, April and Esme are ready for a cozy overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's teapot house by the airport fence. There will be fairy cakes to mix, pancakes and syrup for breakfast, a chocolate on each of their pillows. But then a call comes in about a small girl in a red coat, arriving from Ghana with a baby tooth somewhere in her pocket. Could this be a job for April and Esme, tooth fairy sisters?
As always with Bob Graham, the beauty is in the details: Grandpa working out with a giant teabag-turned-punching-bag; fellow winged creatures hovering above the airport terminal (cupids to help people meet and angels to comfort the sad arrivals). Merging humor, poignancy, and a bit of heart-fluttering suspense, Bob Graham turns a familiar moment of childhood independence into a thing of magic.
Full-color illustrations done in ink and watercolor.
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
Details
Format
Page Count
40
Trim Size
8 1/8" x 11 3/4"
Dewey
E
AR
3.1: points 0.5
Genre
Fiction
Scholastic Reading Counts
0
JLG Release
Jan 2020
Book Genres
Picture Book
Topics
Family life. Tooth Fairy. Fairies. Sisters. Grandparents. Responsibility. Teamwork. Airports. Angels. Cupids.
Standard MARC Records
Download Standard MARC Records
Cover Art
Download Cover Art
Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
When their parents rush off to a molar emergency, the tooth fairy sisters April and Esme and baby brother Vincent are dropped off at their grandparents’ teapot house near an airport. Grandma receives a new call to pick up a tooth from young human girl named Akuba, who’s arriving from Ghana. Mom grants permission over the phone for her daughters to assist and despite the chaos of angels, cherubs, a forgotten coin, and general airport hubbub, the girls accomplish the mission. Both text and illustration beckon multiple reads with details like Grandma’s fairy cakes, Grandpa tying the baby’s leg to his own so the little one can’t fly off, even an obedient fairy dog to monitor the excitement. Graham again charms with the blend of reality and fantasy, leaving readers to wish for another tale of these “spirits of the air.”
Horn Book
Tooth fairy sisters April and Esme (April and Esme, Tooth Fairies, rev. 9/10), along with dog Ariel and new baby brother Vincent, are fluttering in for a sleepover with their grandparents while their parents go out on assignment (“Urgent molar pickup on Main Street”). Grandma and Grandad live in a cozy teapot near the airport, and the illustrations overflow with clever Borrowers-like details—bottle-cap stools, a tea-bag punching bag for Grandad’s fitness, a huge dandelion centerpiece on a table. “Grandma and Grandad’s! A whole day and night. Where the tea is always hot, there’s a bed for weary wings, and pancakes with syrup for breakfast.” When a call comes about a child named Akuba with a baby tooth out who is incoming on flight 417 from Ghana, the tooth fairy sisters (with Grandma in tow) fill in for their parents. The enormous airport is teeming with people and other smaller beings flying high above—cupids who “help people meet” and angels who “do the sad arrivals” or “just watch over” or “help push trolleys.” At last, Akuba appears and the sisters swap her pocketed tooth for a coin, luckily found in a vending machine, as Grandma had forgotten to bring one. The soft ink and watercolor illustrations deftly blend funny and touching details to build a magical world within our own. Readers who find comfort or pleasure in this tooth fairy realm, replete with old-fashioned charm as well as modern conveniences—and troubles—should check out the previous volume as well.
Grades K-1
Primary
For Grades K-1
Story time just got even more enriching. These inviting nonfiction and fiction selections feature full illustration and easy-to-follow stories your students will love to read aloud. The 12 books per year in this category will keep them engaged all year long.
12 books per Year
$236.64 per Year
Interests
Beginning Readers,Fiction,Picture Books,Storytime/Read Alouds
Grades K-1
Primary
12 books per Year
$236.64 per Year
