![]() ![]() Yes, I do appreciate that Nathan ends up with his wish to keep his teeth for and to himself, but I cannot help but wonder whether this result might actually also leave the impression that pranks, that acts of vandalism and violence, or even potential vandalism and violence are somehow acceptable as a ways and means to get, to receive what one desires (and for me, even the title The Tooth Fairy Wars just has a much too battle-like tone and feel to it).Īnd finally, but importantly, as to Jake Parker's illustrations, while they are expressive and work well enough with the presented and featured text, they, like Kate Coombs' narrative, also to and for my eyes have a rather overwhelmingly warlike quality to them that I do not particularly if at all appreciate (Nathan's constantly scowling face, the toy soldiers, the fact that the "tooth experts" look both frightening and quite nastily evil, all this makes me cringe, makes me shiver, and actually enjoy the storyline considerably less than if there had not been any accompanying artwork, period). So yes indeed in Kate Coombs’ The Tooth Fairy Wars, main protagonist Nathan's stubbornness with regard to his teeth, his firm belief that they are his and only his teeth and that he should thus not have to relinquish them to the tooth fairy, this is all both more than understandable and actually even kind of sweet to an extent (and ha, that typed letter the tooth fairy leaves for Nathan is certainly a true and hilarious parody of the many form letters we often receive from government bureaucrats, although I do wonder whether the envisioned audience, whether young children, or rather, whether most young children, would even be able to catch and appreciate this type of humour).īut that all being said, and this is a major and problematic "however" for me personally, the increasing levels of violence and nastiness that are portrayed as the narrative of The Tooth Fairy Wars progresses, and that both Nathan and the tooth fairies (the so called tooth experts) seemingly almost relish in and perhaps even glorify this violence, this does make me rather majorly personally uncomfortable. My favorite color is the blue-green at the top of an ocean wave when it catches the light just before it falls. We're all adopted and from four different ethnic backgrounds. When I see a dry leaf on the sidewalk, I go out of my way to step on it and hear the crunch. It took a long time, but eventually my dreams came true-now I'm a published writer! After a while I started sending my stories to publishers, asking to have them made into books for kids. I wrote a lot of stories, which gave me practice and helped me become a better writer. While I was teaching, I was also writing stories in my free time. I've been teaching on and off for years, instructing students in every single grade from K-13, kindergarten to college! ![]() I later worked as a home teacher, driving around Los Angeles to teach seriously ill students. I eventually worked as a college writing teacher, an editor of coffee table books and technical manuals, and a grade school teacher. But once I got to college and started studying art, my first love-books-came back and grabbed me, so I ended up majoring in English. ![]() I even learned to cut and tie my own double reeds, a tricky task. For a while I wanted to be a concert oboist. When I was a teenager, I played bells in the marching band and oboe in the concert band. For the plays, I would write myself parts like The Glorious Queen and my sister parts like The Quiet Servant Girl. I began writing stories, poems, and plays in grade school. I was already a fan of fairy tales and comedy, so it shouldn't surprise you to hear that my favorite movie when I was a child was Snow White and the Three Stooges. Sometimes we went to the movies at an old theater we called "The Sticky Theater" because there was always soda spilled on the floor. The rest of the time I rode my bike with my sister, Loni, or looked after my little brother and sister. Whenever possible as a child, I read books-books, books, and more books. I was born in Spokane, Washington, but I spent most of my childhood in Camarillo, California, which is about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles. ![]()
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