EDUCATION EXTRA.

Byline: The Register-Guard

"I Lost My Tooth in Africa"

By Penda Diakite; illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite

Scholastic, 2006

Ages 4 to 8

Amina and her family are flying from their home in Portland to visit their extended family in Bamako, Mali, when she discovers she has a loose tooth. Her father tells her if she loses her tooth in Africa she can put it under a gourd and she'll get a chicken from the African Tooth Fairy. Amina uses her tongue to wiggle her tooth and it finally falls out at her family's compound in Mali.

She puts the tooth under a gourd and waits excitedly for a chicken to appear. All day she waits - playing "tegere tillon" (a clapping and singing game) with her cousins, eating lunch and napping, walking to the creek and checking the garden where the manioc is growing tall. Afterward she looks under the gourd, but there is no chicken.

Amina feels sad. Has the African Tooth Fairy forgotten her? No! When she goes back to the gourd again to collect her tooth, two chickens - a hen and a rooster - pop out! Amina is elated.

"I Lost My Tooth in Africa" was written in Amina's voice by her sister Penda when Penda was just 8 years old. The girls' father, author and illustrator Baba Wague Diakite, created the lively illustrations. Borders surrounding each illustration - feathers and eggs, sun and moon, chickens and teeth - add a decorative appeal and bring to mind beautiful African fabrics. The last page has a glossary of words from the many languages spoken in Mali; a recipe for Amina's favorite dinner, Aunt Kadja's Djaba Dhi (African Onion Sauce); and the words to Grandma N'Na's good night song.

- Susan Jewett, retired Springfield School District

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