Ma petite souris

© 2012 Ashley Halsey

My first assignment for my illustration class is complete! The object was to depict the Tooth Fairy. I hadn't heard the tail of the tooth mouse before, and I loved the idea. I decided to make my tooth fairy a little mouse, on his way to collect a tooth! In Europe and South America the tooth mouse is a much more common figure than the human fairy we know in the United States. Written by Madame D'Aulnoy,  "La Bonne Petite Souris," depicts a mouse who changes into a fairy to help a good Queen defeat an evil King hiding under his pillow to torment him and knocking out all his teeth. It is a much more gruesome tale than what we know today. Nevertheless, it establishes the mouse as a form of fairy, taking away children's baby teeth.