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"Wibble Wobble" is a heartwarming story about a little boy named William. On the first page the reader is told, "All William ever wanted in the whole world was to have a loose tooth."
It seems to William that his "teeth seemed stuck, superglued to his gums. 'It isn't fair,' said William. 'Everyone else at school tells loose tooth stories. 'Sammy swallowed his . . . Rosa's fell down the toilet . . . and Louie's flew out when he scored a goal!' "
Then William learns he could get a silver dollar from the Tooth Fairy, if he had a loose tooth that came out! He tells Grandma about three children who lost their teeth at school.
" . . . 'if it comes out at school, you have to keep it somewhere safe.' William continued, 'Vicky tied hers into the knot in her shoelaces . . . and Martin hid his in a cotton ball in his ear. AND . . . today Jasmine's got lost up her nose. Mrs. King said she'd keep them safe from now on.' "
The very next day, William discovers his very first loose tooth. He is excited and shows his friends. For several pages William is busy with his tooth ~ "push, pull, jiggle, joggle. poke, flick, wibble, wobble."
Then, one day in gym class "William did his best somersault ever. And when he stood up, his tooth was sitting on his tongue! William took it out and looked at it. It was so tiny! 'I'll look after it until you go home,' said Mrs. King, wrapping it in a tissue and puttling it on top of the filing cabinet. 'Then can I take it home?' asked William, feeling a bit wobbly himself. 'Of course,' said Mrs. King.
When William's mother arrived to pick him up, he tells her, "My tooth came out!' 'Oh William!' said Mom. 'Where is it?' 'It's on the filing cabinet, wrapped up in a tissue,' said William. 'Here it is,' said Mrs. King. Then she said, 'Oh, it's gone.'
They searched everywhere, to no avail. Then William remembers that when Louie got red paint in his eye, Rosa had handed him a tissue to wipe it out.
"Mom and Mrs. King looked at each other." Despite their obvious misgivings, the two women continued searching in the classroom and Mom eventually finds the tooth in a crumpled up tissue in the wastebasket. A very relieved William took his tooth home and the "next morning [he] looked under his pillow. There lay a little wooden box. He lifted the lid and inside was a shiny silver dollar! When William got to school, he told everyone his loose tooth story. 'I would think you'd like a rest from loose teeth for a while, William!' said Mrs. King. 'Yes,' said William. 'I would.'
But when William spends his silver dollar on an enormous ice cream, unwraps it and takes a big bite of the "ice-cold, rock-hard toffee ... another tooth wiggled! Push, pull, jiggle, joggle, poke, flick, wibble, wobble."
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One evening, after we had read this book, Isobel was complaining that eating the meat on her dinner plate was "hurting her teeth." I was scared she had another cavity... at least until I looked into her little mouth and discovered that one of her bottom front teeth was very loose. A few days later, it fell out and we discovered there was a new tooth coming in a little bit back of where the original one had been. Now she has a second wiggly tooth!
Meanwhile, in about the space of a week, Alisdair lost, not one, but TWO molars! I laughed and said pretty soon I'd have to start feeding them both baby food again as they wouldn't have enough teeth to chew their dinner anymore!
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| This photo, taken on the plane to Victoria, shows all the spaces Alisdair currently has between his teeth! |
It's funny how, although they are almost six years apart in age, that in many ways, they are going through the same stages together -- learning how to ride two-wheeled bikes and losing teeth are just two of these areas.
Push, pull, jiggle, joggle, poke, flick, wibble, wobble ... I wonder who will be the next to lose another ....Isobel? Or her brother?!
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| ... One missing and the tooth next to it is wiggly,too! |
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On our last trip to the main library in North Battleford we borrowed another book on this topic. It is called "My Tooth Is About to Fall Out" by Grace Maccarone and is published as part of the "Hello Reader -- Level One" Scholastic series. It's a rhyming book about a little girl. The conclusion of the poem follows:
"Then tonight I'll go to sleep
And the Tooth Fairy will creep
into my room.
She'll take my baby tooth,
and maybe,
if I am lucky,
she will leave
something behind
for me to find.
I had twenty baby teeth --
with big ones growing underneath.
My roots, I think,
dissolve and shrink
until they're small.
And so my teeth get loose and fall.
My big teeth will begin to show
from under my gums, way below.
I can't wait to see them. They'll look great!"
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