Selby Beeler

Ever wonder how the children in other countries dispose of their baby teeth, when they fall out? Wonder no more, for Selby Beeler has recorded the many folk customs and beliefs concerning teeth to be found around the world. Here young readers will discover that children in many countries - Canada, the United States, Denmark, England - believe in the Tooth Fairy (the Danes call her Tand Feen); while the children of other nations believe that a rat or mouse - El Ratón in Mexico, El Ratón show more Miguelito in Colombia, Ratoncito Perez in Spain - fetches their tooth away, leaving money or a gift in its place.

In some parts of the world, children are instructed to throw their tooth on the roof, or to bury it in the ground. In many of the nations of Asia, there is the belief that adult teeth will grow in the direction of the baby teeth they are replacing, leading to upper teeth being thrown on the ground, and lower teeth being thrown on the roof.

Less of a storybook than a picture-book encyclopedia, in which each country's tradition is given in brief synopsis form, Throw Your Tooth on the Roof still manages to be an engaging book. Young readers will be fascinated by the differences and similarities between the various traditions recorded. I can't say I myself cared for G. Brian Karas's accompanying illustrations, which were a little too cartoonish for my taste, but I suspect some young readers will respond to their humor. All in all, a fun little tour of the tooth traditions of the world! show less

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof describes different traditions about losing baby teeth from around the world. The author portrays the great variety of traditions by sharing some that are very different from each other - some feed their tooth to a dog, some throw it on the roof, some put it in a tree and dance around it, for example. She also highlights the similarities between many cultures by sharing some traditions that share commonalities - many Latin American countries have some version of show more leaving their lost tooth for a rat, for example. Each of the traditions are told from the perspective of a child from that particular culture, which helps the reader respect and appreciate what makes that tradition special. show less

The big idea of this book is to show how children from around the world have different traditions when it comes to their lost teeth. To that end, I like that the book presents the information in a fun an engaging way. For example, the text is not structured in a linear fashion, but instead grouped into categories by continents, but then breaks down further into countries. For example, if I was curious about what people in Russia do with their teeth, I could go under Eastern Europe, then go show more to Russia and see that the put their teeth into the ground in a tiny hole. A small picture that illustrates the process would accompany this text. This method is very practical and makes it easy for a student to find the countries tradition they want to research without looking through the whole book.
Another thing I like about the book is that you can see how some traditions are very similar across the globe. For example, in Taiwan, Korea, Georgia, Greece etc. all throw their teeth up onto the roof. Meanwhile, Countries like France, Spain, and South Africa all have mice collect children’s teeth compared to how some cultures have a tooth fairy. Being able to look at these traditions across cultures is very interesting and can lead to a lot of compare and contrast. Overall, this book was very informative and was a great book to read. show less

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby B. Beeler and illustrated by G. Brian Karas was one of my favorite books from my childhood. I loved reading it again with a new perspective. What I love the most are the illustrations. They are extremely representative of the text and you can tell what the text is saying without necessarily needing to read it. They include so much detail, which makes this book so great. Another aspect of the book that I love is the way it is written. The book discusses show more different traditions of what children do when they lose their teeth from over 60 countries, but it does not seem like that much information. The writing is brief and straight to the point, so it is very easy to read for all ages. I love everything about Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby B. Beeler and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. show less