Tooth Trouble (Ready, Freddy! Series #1)

by Abby Klein, John McKinley

Overview

Freddy Thresher has a problem -- a really, really, big problem. He's the only one in his class who hasn't lost a tooth! All of the other students in Mrs. Wushy's first grade have signed their names on the Big Tooth, and Freddy's determined to get his name on it, too. So when Max "The Meanie" Sellars calls Freddy a baby, Freddy decides he's going to lose that tooth one way or another, even if it means getting in big trouble -- with Mom! Meet Freddy Thresher, a boy who has a nose for trouble and a last name that's made him an expert on sharks. You can learn more about sharks, too, in Freddy's Shark Journal at the back of the book. And see if you can find the word "fin" hidden in every picture! Hey, everybody! It's time to get ready for Freddy!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780756959678
Publisher:	Scholastic HRDerbacks
Publication date:	08/01/2004
Series:	Ready, Freddy! Series
Pages:	95
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Abby Klein was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and has been a kindergarten and first-grade teacher for more than twenty years. She and her husband, two children, and four dogs live in Williston, Vermont.

John McKinley has been drawing all his life. He is the celebrated illustrator of the Ready, Freddy! series. He and his family live in Northern California.

Table of Contents

1.	The Only One	9
2.	Five Ways to Lose a Tooth	19
3.	The Door Disaster	26
4.	Plan B	39
5.	Get Ready ... Get Set ...	47
6.	The Fight	55
7.	Hard, Crunchy Things	57
8.	I Give Up	65
9.	Is That a Nut?	72
10.	Dear Tooth Fairy ...	81
11.	The Big Tooth	85
	Freddy's Fun Pages	91

Editorial Reviews

This slim debut tale in the Ready, Freddy! series introduces first grader Freddy Thresher, who is infatuated with sharks. But in the forefront here is another of the young narrator's obsessions: losing his first tooth. The only kid in his class who still has all his baby teeth, Freddy takes a futile stab at yanking his tooth out via the slapstick string-tied-to-tooth-and-doorknob method. Since he "can hardly even tie [his] own shoes," he plans to tape the string to his tooth; when his mother interrupts, Freddy stashes the tape and string in his mouth-a scenario whose potential humor falls flat. Plan B: the lad picks a fight with the class bully, hoping a punch in the mouth will loosen a tooth. In an anticlimactic finale, Freddy loses his tooth while eating ice cream-and swallows it. Relentless name-calling among Freddy's classmates and between the boy and his older sister grows tedious, as do heavy doses of inconsequential dialogue. Klein follows up her fiction with a page of shark facts, a Mad Libs-type activity and instructions for making a tooth pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Graphite drawings play up the broad humor. Kids able to sink their teeth into this may want to check out the series' second tale, The King of Show-and-Tell (ISBN 0-439-555970-3), due the same month. Ages 4-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Freddy Thresher detests being the only kid in his class who has not lost a tooth. He feels like a loser, especially since his teacher, Mrs. Wushy, has the students who have lost their baby teeth that month write their names up on the Big Tooth. Freddy devises schemes to knock out his tooth. First, he wraps his tooth around a string and ties it to a door knob. Then he tries to entice Max, the class bully, to punch his tooth out. After these two attempts fail, Freddy gives up—only to have his greatest wish granted when he least expects it. This benign chapter book resorts to stock characters and situations, and never manages to be a deeply felt character-driven comedy. Freddy's relationship with his older sister, Suzie, consists of a series of insults that are meant to be funny, such as Ding-Dong Stinky Head and Dog Breath. Mother is a neat freak and best friend Robbie is reduced to being a science genius. However, the illustrations by John McKinley are full of fun and warmth. For humorous, primary-school boy antics, stick with Suzie Kline's "Horrible Harry" series. 2004, The Blue Sky Press, Ages 4 to 8.
—Hillary Homzie

Children's Literature