Bear's Loose Tooth (Bear Books)

As honey-colored Bear savors some tasty food with his forest friends, he discovers a loose tooth. Though Bear is distressed ("But how will I eat/ if my tooth says good-bye?") Mouse reassures him that a new tooth will grow in. Wren, Owl, and Badger each gently take a turn trying to pull out Bear's tooth, but it finally falls out when Bear wiggles it with his tongue. A fluttering tooth fairy leaves Bear blueberries, and the ending suggests she'll be paying Bear a return visit soon. With warm prose, comforting acrylics, and a healthy dose of physical comedy, the tale should amuse young readers. Ages 3-7. (Aug.)

PreS-Gr 1--Inimitable Bear once again deals with a classic childhood milestone: a loose tooth. His friends assure him that it will fall out and a new one will grow in its place. Several of them try to pull it out, but it is Bear's wiggling tongue that does the trick. He dances with happiness and sleeps with the tooth by his head. In the night, a fairy comes and leaves blueberries. He and his friends are delighted, and guess what? Another tooth is loose! Wilson's typical style is evident here, with a rhythmic text and a refrain, "Bear's loose tooth." The rhyme flows fairly smoothly, and the story, while predictable, will be reassuring to youngsters sharing Bear's experience. Chapman's art is as charming as ever, with saturated full-bleed backgrounds and her trademark realistic, if slightly anthropomorphized animals. The appearance of the fairy pulls readers a bit further into fantasy than in some of the other titles, but it fits in nicely with the typical mythos that children are likely to be familiar with, and works effectively. Although somewhat more forced than the best of the earlier titles as the refrain and story itself don't follow as organic a flow, the familiar characters and apropos story line compensate nicely.--Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT