Caroline lost her first tooth. Nice little gaping hole in the front of her lower set. She was slightly traumatized by it until we explained that this was all a perfectly normal part of growing up, and also told her the whole thing about the Tooth Fairy. Then her eyes lit up. “I’ll have my OWN MONEY?” she said. So now’s she’s jazzed. I suspect we’ll have a fairly easy time getting her to go to bed tonight.
I always thought the best Tooth Fairy riff was Dan Slott’s, back when Dan was writing “Ask Doctor Stupid” for the “Ren and Stimpy” comic. One kid asked the fictional answer man, “What does the Tooth Fairy do with all the teeth she’s collected from me?” Dan’s reply: “Well, Timmy, actually the Tooth Fairy is using all those teeth to build another you. So be careful, because once she has all your teeth…she’s coming for your eyes.”
PAD
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I remember that one. Dan also did that great Spider-Man vs. Powdered Toast Man issue.
I always liked Terry Pratchett’s interpretation, that the whole thing’s a big franchise operation, with most of the fairies being young girls working their way through school. Of course, then he turns the whole thing on its head in Hogfather.
Terrifying.
Dan Slott is one funny guy. I grew up reading his Ren & Stimpy comics, but I hadn’t realized that it was Slott until about a year ago when I was clearing out my vast comic dungeon.
Does anyone else remember his Powdered Toast Man special? Ren set out to discover Powdered Toast Man’s secret identity. His methodology? Going down the phone book and pushing people off buildings, and throwing people into trains and quicksand. If they didn’t survive–well then, they obviously weren’t Powdered Toast Man. By the end, after having no luck, Ren and Stimpy are about give up–only to be counseled by none other than…wait for it…Pastor Toastman (who is of course disguised in nothing but a pair of glasses and a clerical collar…still no shirt or pants though).
I really hope I put that one in my “save” pile.
My daughter Maya lost her first tooth last week. It had been “twisting in the wind” for a day and fell out as she was eating pizza (“Mom, this pizza has a hard thing in it!”). I still get a huge warm thrill from her new smile and love the way it affects her “s” sounds.
Thank you for your kind words on my blog post about Tigerheart. I was telling my husband a story about one of your books and he said I should pass it on to you, so here goes:
When I was in college, my boyfriend would read aloud to me, and one particular book I remembered enjoying was a very funny book about a werewolf. Over the past few years, I’ve thought of it, thought I’d like to read it again – and definitely pass it on to my dad – but could never remember the title. (I’m not still in touch with said boyfriend.) Anyway, after doing the Tigerheart review, I was looking at Amazon to see what else you had written, and voila! there was Howling Mad. I was sad to see it is no longer in print, but quickly ordered a used copy. So, I was a fan of yours before I even knew it!
Thank you for your kind words on my blog post about Tigerheart. I was telling my husband a story about one of your books and he said I should pass it on to you, so here goes:
When I was in college, my boyfriend would read aloud to me, and one particular book I remembered enjoying was a very funny book about a werewolf. Over the past few years, I’ve thought of it, thought I’d like to read it again – and definitely pass it on to my dad – but could never remember the title. (I’m not still in touch with said boyfriend.) Anyway, after doing the Tigerheart review, I was looking at Amazon to see what else you had written, and voila! there was Howling Mad. I was sad to see it is no longer in print, but quickly ordered a used copy. So, I was a fan of yours before I even knew it!
When my daughter Sarah lost her most recent tooth, she neglected to tell me that she was putting it out for the tooth fairy. Usually she holds on to them for several days before giving them up. When the tooth fairy didn’t come, she cried to me wondering why the fairy had forsaken her. I told her that I had to call the tooth fairy’s office and have her put on the list. I promised I would call 1-800-TOOTH-FAIRY that evening. She accepted this explanation and went on her way. I shared this story with my brother (PAD) who promplty called 1-800-TOOTH-FAIRY only to discover that this was a phone sex line… I guess that is the tooth fairy’s side gig?
Yeah, I have to admit to preferring Terry Pratchett’s take on the Tooth Fairy; namely that all the teeth were being protected by the tooth fairy, because primitive voodoo type magic would make them potent talismen.
That tooth fairy explanation is pretty good, but I also like Bart Simpson’s. He said, “You know that sound that a can of spray paint makes when you shake it? That’s a baby tooth inside!”
This is how the Soontarans got started.
That “Ren trying to find out Powdered Toast Man’s secret identity” sounds a lot like THE PUMA MAN (worst superhero movie ever (including Corman’s FANTASTIC FOUR movie), best MST3K episode ever) where either the Aztec or the villains kept throwing people out of windows to find out who the Pumaman was. They never explained how many hundreds or thousands of people they’d kill to find out the identity.
“At all times he has the look of a man who’s been hit with a fish.”
That’s funny, Peter. My little Alex is just a bit older than Caroline and recently lost his first two. Not at the same time, mind you, but in quick succession. My biggest problem is that he won’t accept that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t HAVE to be female.