Are Book Reviews Always Honest, Does the Internet Tell the Truth? Tammy the Tooth Fairy Leads Us on a Strange Journey Down the Internet.

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.