The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez

A new picture book by Rene Colato Lainez offers a nice twist to the tale of the Tooth Fairy. 

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My little guy has been wiggling a tooth so long, I can't believe it hasn't given up and fallen out yet. (And when it does, he'll need a new hobby.) Surely, at some point - before he goes to college, I hope - the Tooth Fairy will visit our house.

Apparently, the fairy doesn't visit Spain and Latin America; El Raton Perez does. He's a mouse who travels by rocket ship to homes of children who have recently lost  (healthy) teeth. He collects los dientes using his lasso, if necessary. 

Lainez didn't create the resourceful rodent; El Raton Perez's first appearance in literature was in 1894, in a book said to be written for a young King Alfonso XIII. (Alfonso ruled Spain from 1886 to 1931.)

Published by Tricycle Press/Random House, The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez explains what happens when young Miguelito loses a tooth. El Raton had taken his mama and papa's dientes, and those belonging to Miguelito's abuelos, too. But Miguelito lives in the Tooth Fairy's territory now, and when both El Raton and the ever-vigilant fairy arrive at the same time to collect the tooth, a brief tussle ensues. 

Spoiler alert: they work it out. If you'd like to add a little depth (and a Spanish accent) to the Tooth Fairy tales you tell, I recommend este libro.