Are Book Reviews Always Honest, Does the Internet Tell the Truth? Tammy the Tooth Fairy Leads Us on a Strange Journey Down the Internet.
- by Michael Stillman
Tammy the Toothfairy.
Do you believe in the tooth fairy? A recent press release for a new book really got my attention. The press release announced, “new childrens' book series makes dental care fun, easy and magical for kids.” Say what? Has the book, Tammy the Toothfairy: Enchanted Dental Kingdom by Tameika Burnbury, achieved the impossible? Seriously, made dental care fun? Has Ms. Burnbury never been to a dentist? She might better try to put her toothpaste back in the tube. That would be easier.
Perhaps old age and real world experience has left me jaded. I remember dentistry from the days before novocaine was readily available. Those were the days when dentists and doctors engaged in the greatest lie ever told, “This won't hurt.” Kids knew better. And, Sarah Palin was hardly the first to proclaim, “drill, baby, drill.” Certainly, I always carried more silver in my mouth than in my pockets.
Nevertheless, a press release assures us, “With each turn of the page, children discover how to care for their teeth while having fun. This enchanting children's book makes dental care a happy and exciting journey, rather than a chore.”
Is that really possible? I looked to the source of all things honest and true, the internet, and discovered, lo and behold, it is. The book comes with some impressive endorsements, including from Julia Clarke, Principal of the Mockrell School. She found the book “a fantastic resource in my classroom. The kids enjoy the activities and learn important dental habits in a fun way.” She wasn't the only one, as these comments attest.
Now, not being too familiar with the Mockrell School, I did a little more searching. I didn't find anything about the school itself, nor even its existence, though I did find that Ms. Clarke and the others have found a few other things to their liking. For example, the fabricated aluminum products of HY Industry of Auckland, New Zealand. The endorsers do manage to take on a different appearance when in New Zealand. Perhaps these styles are more appropriate for New Zealand, though Mr. Adams took on a different vocation too, but looks more like a dentist when endorsing aluminum.
Cynthia Assini took on a decidedly different look when they endorsed fortovan, a type of flooring, and Adams sure looks debonair.
Perhaps it was just as well not to show their faces when they all sang the praises of NAS Rent A Car. Clarke and Adams certainly think alike when it comes to evaluating rental cars.
And MCM Global Education.
Principal Julia Clarke also showed an amazing ability to take on a different look.
Then again, I'm not quite sure Ms. Clarke is the Principal of the Mockrell School. How many principals does a school have?
Linda Harris is another who claims to be the Principal of the Mockrell School.
She is another who trades appearances, with Russel Brown. It looks like they also exchanged genders. She looks more like a principal now, though not like a Linda. Harris and Brown are another pair who think exactly alike. I might be suspicious but this site is 99% trusted by Canadians and you can't pull the wool over a Canadian's eyes. I don't know what they are saying as it is in a language I don't understand, presumably Canadian.
Some amazing things can happen when you combine the two foremost bastions of truth, advertising and the internet. None of this should reflect unfairly on Ms. Burnbury or her book, which take on the task of making dentistry fun for children. As someone who still shakes from fear when visiting a dentist, easing a child's fears is a wonderful thing to do. The Magic School Bus even made going to school seem like fun. My mother wrote school books and she knew nothing about the people providing endorsements. That was the purview of the publisher. Perhaps they were the ones trying a little too hard to promote a book that means well. They just needed to pay a little more attention to the Truth Fairy.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
