Review: The Truth About the Tooth Fairy
The Truth About the Tooth Fairy (Miriam's Magical Creature Files series)
by Leah Cypess, illustrated by Sarah Lynne Reul
Amulet Books (imprint of Harry N. Abrams), 2025
Six-year-old Miriam, the youngest in her family, thinks that her older siblings and her parents are telling her the most ridiculous things. The most ridiculous of all is about the tooth fairy. Funny, clever, irreverent Miriam does not believe that the tooth fairy is real, and she’s determined to prove it. Once her first loose tooth begins to wiggle, Miriam makes a plan. She will stay up all night and catch the tooth fairy in action. But when her tooth finally falls out on Shabbat, Miriam must put her plan on hold. She wonders what the tooth fairy will do, especially, if as she suspects, it’s really her father. He can’t put money under her pillow on Shabbat. After Shabbat is over, Miriam continues her quest. Yet at the end of the narrative, both the reader and Miriam are still unsure. Is the tooth fairy real or not?
In this first book in the “Miriam’s Magical Creature Files” chapter book series, the loose, cartoony illustrations help move the plot along in a humorous and engaging way. They are well integrated and essential to the story, deepening the reader’s understanding of the characters and of Jewish customs.
We learn from the back matter that tooth fairy has her own Jewish journey. The idea of a tooth fairy that collects children’s teeth and gives them money in return was popularized in America by a Jewish writer, Lee Rogow, in a 1949 column in Collier’s magazine. In Rogow’s column, like in Cypess’ story, the answer is left ambiguous, leaving room for each family to make their own decisions. Miriam’s family presents as Orthodox, and the Jewishness of the story is integral, informative, and positively portrayed. Yet any American kid, Jew and non-Jew alike, can easily see themselves in this universal and relatable story.
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