Santa Claus Meets the Tooth Fairy

About the Book

What happens when a child loses a tooth on Christmas Eve? Can a tooth be put under the pillow for the Tooth Fairy even though Santa is expected that same night? This question is answered through the experience of six-year-old Amanda who has this very problem upon losing her first tooth. Amanda's wish comes true with evidence to prove it in this delightful children's book.

About the Author

Karen Vanek is a retired educator and grandmother of three. She lives in Fredericksburg, Texas with her husband and two dogs. Karen taught writing to third and fourth graders for many years and is passionate about teaching children about the power of words Her daughter, Sharon, at eight years old, came up with the idea about Santa meeting the Tooth Fairy. Karen thought this was a unique story to which many children could relate. She worked with her daughter to create the original story which was put in a drawer for 20 years. Upon retiring, Karen found the time to rework the story and make it a richer experience using everythig that she had learned as a writing teacher. Sharon Vanek Schmidt is now the mother of three young children and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma with her husband. She loves helping her children discover the joys of learning and finding their individual strenghts and talents. Her oldest daughter is just at the age where she will begin losing her baby teeth. Sharon remembers working on this story with her mother when she was just in second grade. She can’t wait to put a copy on her children’s bookshelf and read it to each of them over and over again. About the illustrators: Julio Mercado was once a third grade student in my class. At an early age he captured my heart with his constant quest to learn. He would do extra science projects on his own with each new unit we studied and present his new-found knowledge to the class. His mother would walk him and several small siblings to the neighborhood library for him to research his projects. He would use whatever he could find to create displays to go with his research – even the backs of cereal boxes. Even after Julio moved away, he and I remained close through field trips to various museums. He worked hard to attain his education and develop his artistic shills. Later when he was attending college, he still visited me out of town with his wife and little girl. I am so honored that he and his friend Jhanely agreed to illustrate this book for me.