Loose-Tooth LukeElectronic book published by ipicturebooks.com24 W. 25th St. New York, NY 10011 www.ipicturebooks.comAll rights reserved. Copyright 1998 by The Millbrook Press, Inc.Real Kids Readers and the Real Kids Readers logo are trademarks of The Millbrook Press, Inc.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. With love and thanks to Hilary Jensen Rice._P. J.e-ISBN 1-58824-473-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataJensen, Patsy.Loose-tooth Luke / by Patsy Jensen ; photography by Dorothy Handelman.p. cm._ (Real kids readers. Level 3)Summary: When Luke and his friends find out that he is the only one who still has all his baby teeth, everyone has a suggestion for making his one loose tooth come out. ISBN 0-7613-2009-1 (lib. bdg.). _ ISBN 0-7613-2034-2 (pbk.)1. Teeth_Fiction. I. Handelman, Dorothy, ill. II. Title. III. Series. PZ7.J4285Lo 1998 Fic_dc21Loose-Tooth LukePatsy JensenPhotographs by Dorothy HandelmanLuke and Max were drawing with chalk on the sidewalk in Pocket Park. The park was small, with houses on the sides. But it was just the right size for the boys and their friends.Luke was making a dragon. He used the last bit of red chalk to draw fire coming from the dragons mouth.“Awesome dragon,” said Max.“Thanks,” said Luke. “Your picture is good too. Only Im not sure what it is.”Max laughed. “Its a castle,” he said. “But it looks more like a stack of boxes. I guess Im better at building things than I am at drawing them.”Just then Beth and Lisa came by.“Hi,” said Lisa. “Can we draw too?”“Sure,” said Max. “But weve used up most of the chalk.” He held up a small piece to show her.“We can buy more,” said Beth. “Look what I found under my pillow this morning.”7Beth opened her hand. She had four shiny quarters. “I lost my fifth tooth, so I got money from the tooth fairy.”“Youve lost five teeth?” said Luke. “No fair. I havent even lost one!”“Really?” said Lisa. “Ive lost two.”“Ive lost six, and another one is loose,” said Max.All of a sudden, Luke felt weird. He was the only one who still had all his baby teeth. 8“Maybe one of your teeth is loose,” Lisa said kindly. “Why dont you check and see?”“Okay,” said Luke. He pushed his tongue against his top teeth. They didnt move. He pushed his tongue against his bottom teeth. One of them moved!10“My tooth is loose! My tooth is loose!” Luke yelled. He opened his mouth and wiggled his bottom front tooth.“Cool!” said his friends.11Luke grinned. Finally he had a loose tooth! But then he started to worry. When would his tooth come out? Would it hang around in his mouth for years and years?Lukes smile turned into a frown.“Now whats wrong?” asked Beth.Luke shrugged. “Well, Im happy my tooth is loose. But now I wonder how Im going to get it out.”1213“Dont worry. I know what to do,” said Max. “Well make a big machine. It will grab your loose tooth. It will wiggle it and wiggle it. Then it will yank it out like this.”He pretended to pull Lukes tooth.Lukes eyes got very big. “I dont know, Max,” he said. “It sounds kind of um hard to make.”“Trust me. It will be easy,” said Max. “Well call it The Worlds Fastest Tooth- Pulling Machine. Every kid around Pocket Park will want to use it.”He picked up a little piece of chalk and started to draw the machine. “Well need gears and wires and nuts and bolts. And well need a big, strong pincher thing to grab the tooth.”Luke looked at Maxs drawing. The Tooth-Pulling Machine did not look like fun. In fact, it looked creepy. But maybe it would work.Luke really wanted to lose a tooth. “Okay,” he said. “Lets give it a try.”“Great,” said Max. “Come on, you guys. Well build it at Lukes house.”“No, thanks,” said Beth. “Im going to go buy more chalk.”“Ill go with you,” said Lisa. “Good luck with the machine, you two. Well meet you back here later.”The girls left the park.21“This machine will be so cool,” Max said. “Well put the motor on it. Then, vroom! It will pull out your tooth like that.” He snapped his fingers.Lukes tummy did a flip-flop. This machine was sounding worse and worse!“A m-m-m-motor?” he said. “I dont think we have one.”“Rats!” said Max. “ The machine wont work without a motor.”“Oh,” said Luke. “Thats too bad.” But inside he felt much better.2223The boys went to Lukes house.“Ive got an idea!” said Max. “Do you have any string?”“Sure,” said Luke. “What for?”“Youll see,” said Max.The boys went on a string hunt. They found fat string and thin string, scratchy string and smooth string. They made kind of a mess. But Max finally found what he was looking for.“This is just right thin but strong,” he said.Max led the way to Lukes room. He cut a long piece of string. Then he tied one end to the doorknob.“You sit on the chair,” he said to Luke. “