The Underhills: a tooth fairy story by Bob Graham
Walker Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781536211122.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Teeth, Tooth fairies, Fairies,
Cupid, Angels, Airports, Immigration, Grandparents. With the
Underhill parents called to a job, the girls and their baby brother
go to their grandparents' house, a teapot by the airport, to stay.
Here a splendid time awaits: fairy cakes, pancakes for breakfast,
feather beds and chocolate. And the girls bring a jar of tadpoles
for Grandma. But an urgent call comes in: a tooth is arriving from
Ghana, and they are close to the airport. Grandpa is left reading
his poetry book in the garden with baby Vincent tied to him lest his
wings take him up like a balloon.
Grandma, Esme and April (seen first in April
Underhill: tooth fairy, 2010) fly to the terminal, there to
wait for the plane. Cupids and angels are there too, waiting to ply
their skills: cupids to help loving people greet each other, and the
angels to comfort those who are alone and sad, enfolding them with
their wings and helping to push their trolleys.
An announcement alerts the family to the plane's arrival and the
girls watch out for the Ghanan family and the young girl whose tooth
has fallen out. Grandma reminds the girls about where to find the
tooth and the girls fly to the young girl and climb into her pocket.
They retrieve the tooth, leaving a small coin behind, whispering in
Akuba's ear that she will not remember the event.
Grandma was worried about the girls doing their first extraction but
had confidence in them.
That night the girls sleep in the feather bed, the tooth safely
beside them, while Akuba sleeps on the other side of town with her
small coin, unsure of how it got there.
This charming story full of hope and love, shows the Underhill
family plying their trade. The girls are supported by their gran on
their first job at the airport, searching for the Ghanan family as
they come into England. They are successful and the Ghanan family is
at peace in their new home.
Graham's playful illustrations reveal the lure of staying with
grandparents, while the children take on a role usually done by the
parents. But his delightful micro world always pays homage to what
is happening around us. The endpapers have huge planes landing over
the tea pot house, wire fences and bright lights surrounding the
airfield, the outline of the plane overshadowing the nearby suburbs,
Gran has a mobile phone. In the airport, a soldier returns from
duty, older people come in alone, people arrive from other
countries, some heads covered by a hijab, but all hopeful and full
of anticipation. While outside the now quiet airport, some tadpoles
turn into frogs and slip away into the night.
Graham's work always leaves readers with a warm glow: recognition of
a familiar scene, reworked to reveal a different perspective.
Children will look again at the images presented here, not only the
loving family, but the background figures, those coming into the
airport for a variety of reasons, but all finding a safe haven.
Fran Knight