about the book
Nathan is determined to keep his baby teeth forever. He isn’t interested in the money left by the Tooth Fairy, so every time he loses a tooth, he hides it.
But the Tooth Fairy is just as determined to perform her duty of collecting teeth. She finds Nathan’s teeth hidden in the garage, a tarantula’s cage, and the garden. Each hiding spot is increasingly elaborate.
When the Tooth Fairy leaves a couple threatening letters from “the 15th League of Enchanted Commerce,” Nathan ignores the threats. He just wants his teeth. What’s wrong with that?
Who will win in this war of wills?
about the author
Kate Coombs was born in Spokane, Washington, but grew up in Camarillo, California. She has six brothers and sisters, who were all adopted and are from four different ethnicities. When Kate wasn’t reading, she was spending time with her siblings.
She began writing stories, poems, and plays in grade school. In the plays, her character was always something like “The Glorious Queen” and her sisters’ parts were like “The Quiet Servant Girl.” Thankfully they were good sports about it!
When she was a teenager, Kate played bells in the marching band and oboe in the concert band. For a time, she wanted to be a concert oboist and even learned how to cut and tie her own double reeds—not an easy task.
She began college as an art major, but ended up with a degree in English instead. Since then she’s worked in a variety of teaching positions and as an editor of coffee table books.
Kate currently writes curriculum for state history books for a small publisher. She lives in Bountiful, Utah.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Simon & Schuster
Author interview: Cracking the Cover
Also by Kate Coombs:
Hans My Hedgehog : A Tale from the Brothers Grimm. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2012.
Water Sings Blue : Ocean Poems. Chronicle Books. 2012.
The Secret-Keeper. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2006.
about the illustrator
Agent 44, the robotic sidekick, is the alter ego of cartoonist Jake Parker. He is the creator, writer and illustrator for the Missile Mouse series—a combination of James Bond, the Rescue Rangers, Spaceman Spiff, and the Rocketeer!
Jake grew up watching cartoons, but when the other kids outgrew them, he discovered a comic book shop and was blown away by the diversity of the books. From that point on, every cent he had went into buying comic books, and every spare moment went into drawing. He never got very good grades in school and he never finished college. When it came time to get a job all he could do was draw. His only choice was to become a cartoonist!
Jake started drawing Missile Mouse when he was a teen, and it took fifteen years before he turned his hero into a very successful graphic novel.
Besides working on comics, Jake has done everything from a dinosaur exhibits to TV commercials, video games, and feature animation films. For five years now, he has been designing and animating sets and vehicles for Blue Sky Studios, who created the films Ice Age and Horton Hears a Who.
Jake currently lives with his family in Provo, Utah.
Sources:
Artist website
Artist feature : Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Artist interview : Comic Book Resources
Other graphic novels by Jake Parker:
Who’s the Grossest of Them All? by Susan McElroy Montanari. Schwartz & Wade. August 2016.
Little Snowplow by Lora Koehler. Candlewick Press. October 2015.
The Girl Who Wouldn’t Brush Her Hair by Kate Bernheimer. Schwartz & Wade. 2013.
The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon. Balzer + Bray. 2011.
Missile Mouse : 1 : The Star Crusher. Graphix. 2010.
read more!
The Lost-and-Found Tooth by Louise Borden
The second graders of Mr. Reilly’s class are ecstatic when he announces the Tooth Calendar, a way for them to keep track of these momentous occasions, including when and where they happened. Lucy worries she will never lose a tooth and get on the calendar—but she does! It happened on the playground. Unfortunately, it fell out and now she can’t find it!
Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth by Alison McGhee
Everyone knows that though Mrs. Watson may look human, she is really an alien, an alien that wants to take your teeth and use them in her schemes. At least, this is what a second grader tells the hero of this story, who is just starting first grade…with a loose baby tooth.
The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez by Rene Colato Lainez
When Mexican-American Miguelito hides his tooth under his pillow, he has no idea that he’s setting off a power struggle between the Tooth Fairy and her Spanish-speaking counterpart, El Ratón Pérez. Sparks fly as both the fairy and the mouse arrive to claim the tooth. Who does the tooth belong to?