Listen and read-along with this fun story by, Ellen Javernick

“Could Mrs. Heronamus be the tooth fairy?”  I whispered to Josh.

That morning she convinced Connor to let her help pull out his tooth. 

Josh shook his head.  “No way!” he whispered back. “Whatever made you think she might be?”

I leaned closer hoping Mrs. Heronamus wouldn’t hear.

“She was talking to the principal and she said, ‘I’ve just got to get Connor’s tooth today.  I can’t stand watching him wiggle it any longer. It’s been tempting me for two weeks.” 

I didn’t get to say anything more because just then Mrs. Heronamus looked in our direction and announced, “This is not a talking time.”

We were supposed to be studying  our flash cards but I couldn’t concentrate. Suppose Mrs. Heronamus really was the tooth fairy.  Wouldn’t that be something!

At lunch Josh and I played Without A Doubt. It was a reasoning game Mom taught me. Josh was supposed to give a reason why Mrs. Heronamus couldn’t possibly be the Tooth Fairy and then I had to make the jury wonder if he might be wrong. The other kids at our lunch table agreed to be the jury.     

Josh said, “The tooth fairy has to be able to fly and I’ve never seen Mrs. Heronamus fly.”

I quickly countered,  “BUT when she dresses up like “Zero the Hero” and leaps off her desk, she looks like she might know how.”

The jury nodded knowingly.  

Josh went on.  

“The Tooth Fairy has to do something with all the teeth she takes. Mrs. Heronamus never mentions burying teeth in the backyard, or hiding them in her house.”

“BUT, what about her necklace, the one that looks like it’s made of lots of teeth.”

One of the jurors gave a thumbs up sign.

 Josh pretended not to notice.  

“The tooth fairy,” he said, “needs to have something to carry teeth in. Have you noticed Mrs. Heronamus carrying any teeth?”

“No,” I admitted, “BUT her purse is gigantic and when the principal came to move her car for the field trip busses, she warned him that he might get bitten if he reached in it for the keys.” 

The jury nodded in agreement.

 “Well, said Josh,  “The Tooth Fairy would have to work all night  to get everybody’s teeth.  She’d be too tired to teach.”

BUT,” I reminded the jury.  “Remember the time we caught Mrs. Heronamus sleeping when the subtraction dvd ended.”

Several jurors giggled at the memory.

Josh sucked some chocolate milk, and said, “Mrs. Heronamus can’t possibly be the Tooth Fairy.  The Tooth Fairy has to be really rich to pay for all the teeth she takes.  My dad says teachers don’t get paid much.”

“BUT,” I said,  “Mrs. Heronamus has lots of quarters to lend to kids who forget their lunch money.”

One of the jurors whispered, “And she paid my library fine when I lost my book. “    

 I smiled. I could tell I was winning the jury over.  

Josh wasn’t ready to give up. 

“The Tooth Fairy has to be able to slip into kid’s rooms while they’re sleeping. Can you imagine Mrs. Heronamus coming through your window?”

Several jurors shook their heads.  

BUT, wait, suppose she sneaks through the door. Think how quiet she is when she tiptoes up to whisper “nice work” during writing time.”

“Good point,” said one of the jurors.

Josh glared at the jury. 

“None of you can disagree with this. The Tooth Fairy has to be good at finding  teeth under kids pillows. Mrs. Heronamus isn’t good at finding things. Remember how we have to help her find stuff like her glasses and the fish food.”

 I interrupted. “BUT, maybe that’s why she sends our teeth home in plastic tooth boxes so they’ll be easier to find under our pillows.”

Some of the jurors were shaking their heads.  It wasn’t looking good for me.

“Here’s the clincher,” said Josh.  “The Tooth Fairy has to be available 24-7 to get teeth cause when it’s day here, it’s night over in China, and Chinese kids lose teeth too.  Mrs. Heronamus would have to jump up right in the middle of  spelling or something to fly off to the other side of the world.”

All the jurors nodded in agreement.

“Mrs. Heronamus can’t  be the Tooth Fairy.”

“BUT wait” I said. “Even though Mrs. Heronamus can’t be the full time Tooth Fairy, I bet she subs for her when she’s sick.”

The jury’s still out on that one.

THE END

About the Author

Ellen Javernick is a kindergarten teacher in Loveland, Colorado and the author of more than 40 books.  Her “What If Everybody” books published by Two Lions are among Amazon’s top sellers.  Check out Ellen’s books here.