Le Manoir de la Dentiste


BASIC INFO	LANGUAGE LEVEL	COMPREHENSION-AIDING FEATURES
Book Title Le Manoir de la Dentiste (The Dentist’s Mansion) Author(s) Jim Wooldridge Illustrator(s) Juan Carlos Pinilla Other Contributors Erika Swanson, Agnes Denvir, Lara Talens Garcia, Davi Comodo, and Cécile Lainé Published by Señor Wooly LLC Genre Mystery and Adventures Publication date 2018 #Ownvoices N/A	From the author/publisher’s website Beginner-Intermediate Total Word Count N/A	Illustrations YES Glossary YES Guiding Questions NO Context YES Other N/A


IDENTITIES PRESENT IN THE TEXT		SYNOPSIS
Races, Ethnicities, and Nationalities N/A Languages spoken French Sex and Genders Female Male Ages Child Adult Social classes Middle Class	Sexual Orientation Heterosexual Abilities Neurotypical Non-disabled Religions N/A Family Structures Heteroparental Body Type Non-curvy	From the author/publisher’s website The Legend of The Dentist is a lie. At least, that’s what most kids in Carolina’s town seem to believe. They think it’s merely a fable designed to scare them into brushing their teeth. But Carolina can’t shake the idea that there’s something insidious bubbling under the surface of this small island community. Maybe the answer lies in the abandoned house across the street. Or maybe, the house just looks abandoned.


ILLUSTRATIONS	STORY	SOCIAL JUSTICE
To what extent do the illustrations present positive and thoughtful representations of identities? This book is not intended to focus on representations and identities. The illustrations portray everyone as having the same skin tone although the hair styles and colors can differ. The protagonist, Caroline, and her best friend, Sophie, both share the same skin tone but Caroline has brown hair and Sophie has green hair. Any other illustrations of other people look the same or may vary slightly in appearance or hairstyle.	We understand identities are complex and no single story represents the spectrum of identity-based experiences. Also, a text may address a stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization without relying on it. *Does any stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization affect any positive and thoughtful representations of identities in the text?* NO	This section is for teachers who are working towards sourcing more texts within the four domains of anti-bias education. We are excited about reading all books and we understand that not all books are written for this specific purpose. *Does this text work toward goals within any of the* four domains of anti-bias education as defined by Learning for Justice? NO


LLLAB’s REVIEW
Le Manoir de la Dentiste is a light-hearted scary story with plenty of twists and turns about a town where there is a scary legend about a dentist who steals all of your teeth if you do not brush them. Throughout the story we discover that the legend has a scary truth to it when the protagonist Caroline and her best friend Sophie find out that the dentist really does want to steal all of your teeth. To make matters worse, all of the parents in the town are all in on it. The adults in the book are presented as sheep-like in the way that they all say the same thing, essentially, “brush your teeth!” almost obsessively, and later in the story we find out why. This causes all of the kids to develop a complex which makes them brush their teeth before and after every meal, a total of 6 times a day. It’s up to the kids to get themselves out of this odd situation. This book is appropriate for beginner to intermediate students. Throughout the book, new vocabulary is presented in bold letters so students can reference the meaning in the glossary, which is separated by the pages on which they appear. Also, it is worth noting that the comic-book style presentation of the illustrations throughout are well done and help the students follow along with the story and keep their attention.