10 min read
“Squirrel, squirrel, take this tooth and give me a new one!” That’s what we chanted as children in Sri Lanka, throwing a lost tooth up onto the roof. My son does it differently. He puts his teeth in a little box and waits for the Tooth Fairy.
If you’re looking for picture books about losing a tooth, here’s the short answer. The right book depends on where your child is with it: scared of the wobble, stuck with a tooth that won’t come out, the last one in class with all their baby teeth, upset about a tooth that went missing, or deep in Tooth Fairy questions. That’s how this list is sorted.
Key Takeaways
- A wobbly tooth can be exciting and scary at the same time. Pick the book for the feeling your child has right now.
- Scared kids often stop wiggling, and sometimes stop eating. A story about another child’s wobble can take the edge off.
- Lost or swallowed teeth happen a lot. A note to the Tooth Fairy fixes most of it.
- Families around the world do different things with lost teeth, and kids love hearing about them.
- We don’t have a Kitty and Dino book about teeth, so this list is all other authors, with our own family’s tooth stories in the middle.
Why is my child scared of a wobbly tooth?
Because for a five or six year old it’s a strange thing: a part of your own body getting loose. Parents describe it in very similar words. One parent wrote that their son was “a bit freaked out by them and won’t really wobble them.” Another parent found their daughter crying in her room, saying she never wanted it to come out, and refusing breakfast because she didn’t want to open her mouth.
The worry is usually about pain, or blood, or just the oddness of it. A picture book helps because the child gets to watch someone else go through it first, from the wobble all the way to the gap.
Picture books about losing a tooth, sorted by what’s happening
When they’re scared of the wobble
Bear’s Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman. Bear has a wobbly tooth, and all his friends crowd round to help and reassure him. Gentle and rhyming, and good for the child who needs to hear that everyone’s on their side.
My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out by Lauren Child. A Charlie and Lola story. Lola refuses to lose her wobbly tooth, right up until she hears what the Tooth Fairy leaves. Funny, and very honest about how stubborn a small child can be.
Rosie’s Baby Tooth by Maryann Macdonald, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Rosie’s first tooth comes out and she doesn’t want to give it up. Letters back and forth with the Tooth Fairy help her let it go. Lovely for the child who’s attached to the tooth itself.
Kitty and Dino Help Penny the Penguin
When it just won’t come out
Loose Tooth by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Sylvie Wickstrom. A boy pushes and pulls and wiggles a first loose tooth that refuses to budge. It’s an early reader, so a six-year-old can read most of it themselves.
Andrew’s Loose Tooth by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko. Andrew’s dad, a dentist and even the Tooth Fairy all try to get his tooth out and fail. In the end a friend, some pepper and a sneeze do it. Silly in the best way, and great for a giggling bedtime.
When everyone else has lost one already
Arthur’s Tooth by Marc Brown. Arthur is the only one in his class who still has all his baby teeth, and he’s not happy about it. Parents mention this one a lot. “She is very unimpressed,” one parent wrote, about being the last in her class without a gap.
When the tooth goes missing
Wibble Wobble by Miriam Moss, illustrated by Joanna Mockler. A boy’s tooth falls out at school, and the worry becomes getting it home safely. Very real for any child whose tooth came out at lunch.
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey. Sal’s loose tooth falls out in the mud by the shore, so she has to find another way to make her wish. A gentle old classic, longer than the others, better from about five.
When they believe in the Tooth Fairy (or a friend says she isn’t real)
Dear Tooth Fairy by Alan Durant, illustrated by Vanessa Cabban. Holly keeps her tooth and writes letters to the Tooth Fairy instead, and the Tooth Fairy writes back. Sweet, and a nice idea to borrow.
The Night Before the Tooth Fairy by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. A rhyming take on “The Night Before Christmas,” about a stubborn tooth that keeps the Tooth Fairy waiting. Fun to read aloud.
Tooth traditions from around the world
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby Beeler, illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Children from many countries describe what they do with a lost tooth: throwing it on the roof, giving it to a mouse, and more. This is the one I’d pick for our house, because the roof tradition I grew up with is exactly the kind of thing it’s about.
The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez by René Colato Laínez, illustrated by Tom Lintern. Miguelito’s tooth gets two visitors on the same night: the Tooth Fairy and Ratón Pérez, the tooth mouse of Spain and Latin America. Perfect for families with two traditions under one roof.
Our family’s tooth stories
When my son’s first tooth was about to come out, he asked me one morning, while washing his face before school, whether the Tooth Fairy would take it and leave a new one in its place. I’d never told him about her. I think he found her in his books.
When it fell out, he put it in a box and waited. So I found a foreign coin and slipped it inside. Then I completely forgot to tell him to look. He checked the box himself about two days later, and he was so happy.
Some of his friends told him flat out that there’s no such thing as a Tooth Fairy. He brought out his coin to show them. “No, she does exist. Look, I got this coin!”
When his second tooth came out, my wife and I tried telling him about the squirrels and the roof, partly because I had no idea where I’d find another unusual coin. He didn’t buy it. That night my wife said to me, “You can stop trying to convince him otherwise. He completely believes in it now.” So I found another coin.
I know some parents prefer to tell children the plain truth about teeth from the start. My own view is that reality matters, but there should be room for imagination too, as long as it doesn’t harm how a child behaves. He gets so much joy out of it, and he’ll learn the rest at school soon enough. If you’re thinking about that side of things, our list of picture books that encourage imagination goes into it more.
A note on our own books
We don’t have a Kitty and Dino book about losing a tooth, and I’d rather say so than stretch one to fit. The nearest thing is for the scared-of-the-wobble child. Penny the Penguin is about a different fear: Penny got scared in the middle of a snowboard trick and can’t make herself try again, and Kitty and Dino help her build back up one small jump at a time. It’s the same feeling of the moment right before something scary, if that’s where your child is.
Kitty and Dino Help Penny the Penguin
What to do on the night it comes out
Give the tooth a safe home. A little box or an envelope by the bed is easier to find in the dark than a tooth under a pillow, and it’s exactly what my son uses.
If the tooth is lost or swallowed, write a note. Parents have been doing this for years. One parent said their son swallowed his first tooth and “had to write a note to the fairy.” It works.
Leave a little magic. Another parent sprinkled some glittery “fairy dust” under the pillow and in the bathroom sink. Small touches like that are what children remember.
And if your child is the one who’s nervous, read one of the scared-of-the-wobble books a few nights before, not on the night itself. If a fear of trying new things is part of a bigger pattern, our list of picture books for a child who gives up easily might help too.
FAQ: Picture Books About Losing a Tooth
From the Kitty & Dino bookshelf
Gentle picture books about brave little moments, for ages 3–8:
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