Josie is a stand-out girl, the most agile monkey-bar climber, fastest runner, and best reader. But she’s also the only person in her class who has never lost a tooth. She would really like to change this. When Josie finally discovers a loose tooth, she tries to hurry things along by hanging upside down, crunching into an apple, and pulling it with string, but it’s only later, as she’s playing sharks with Richard, that Josie falls down and her tooth falls out, vanishing in the grass. Richard generously offers Josie his shark tooth to put under her pillow in lieu of her real tooth, and the Tooth Fairy delivers: The next morning there are two shark-tooth necklaces nestled beneath her pillow, one for her, and one for Richard. Delightfully child-like pencil and pastel illustrations depict Josie with brown skin and Richard with white in a story to which many children will relate. (Ages 4–7)

What if you’re first and best at everything — except losing your first tooth? A sweet, relatable story about comparing yourself to others, losing teeth, and the value of good friends.

Josie is the monkey-bars champion, the first one to read a whole book by herself, and the second-fastest runner in her class. But she’s the worst at losing teeth —the only kid in her class who still has all her baby teeth! One night, Josie finally feels a tooth wiggle, just a little, and she can’t wait to show her best friend, Richard. But nothing makes the tooth fall out — not hanging upside down, chomping on an apple, or even pulling on the tooth with a string — until Josie trips and goes splat and the tooth is lost for good. Now what can she leave under her pillow for the tooth fairy?