ALA Booklist (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

My tooth is loose! The series is My First I Can Read Book, and the story is straight from every preschooler's experience, told in simple repeated words and clear, energetic, colored pictures outlined with thick black lines. Close-ups show the anxiety and the physical facts every kid knows: I can see it. I can feel it. I can pull it. I can push it. The little boy wiggles his tooth for Sister and for his dog, But it won't come out. Everyone has a suggestion: Brother recommends pulling it; Sister advises him to wait. But it comes out on its own--now there's a hole where the tooth used to be! The elemental story will show new readers that books are about them.

Horn Book (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

"It's loose. / It's loose.... / I can pull it. / I can push it. / But it won't come out!" The simultaneous excitement of having a loose tooth and frustration that it won't come right out are celebrated in this beginning reader. Sprightly art highlights each moment from first wiggle to the eagerly anticipated loss, featuring a topic with sure-fire appeal for the new-to-reading crowd.

Kirkus Reviews

Losing that first tiny tooth is a huge event in the life of a child, celebrated here in this beginning easy reader from the I Can Read series. A little boy with curly blond hair is the first-person narrator, describing the condition of his loose tooth and his attempts to dislodge the tooth through wiggling and eating. The rhyming text is simple but clever, told in very short sentences with repeating sentence patterns and a catchy refrain. Wickstrom's loose watercolors with thick outlines provide additional humor, with distinctly different looks for each member of the boy's family. While this entry works well as a beginning easy reader, it will also be popular in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms as a read-aloud and will fit right in to story hours with dental themes. (Easy reader. 5-7)

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-Schaefer and Wickstrom capture the excitement a child experiences when he realizes that his tooth is loose. With a few words, lots of repetition, some rhyme, and good rhythm, this story is perfect for beginning readers. The cartoon illustrations add details to the plot and create interest. Expressions of curiosity, joy, and fear (of the pliers Brother suggests as a remedy) clearly portray the feelings of the narrator. A fine choice for those just starting on the exciting road to reading.-Anne Knickerbocker, formerly at Cedar Brook Elementary School, Houston, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.