El Ratón Pérez (Spain and Latin America) In
Spain and
Hispanic America, El
Ratoncito Pérez or Ratón Pérez (
Perez the Little Mouse or
Perez Mouse) is equivalent to the tooth fairy. He first appeared in an 1894 tale written by
Luis Coloma for King
Alfonso XIII, who had just lost a milk tooth at the age of eight. As is traditional in other cultures, when a child loses a tooth it is customary for the child to place it under the pillow so that El Ratoncito Pérez will exchange it for a small payment or gift. The tradition is almost universal in Spanish cultures, with some slight differences. He is generally known as "El Ratoncito Pérez", except for some regions of Mexico, Peru, and Chile, where he is called "El Ratón de los Dientes" (
The Tooth Mouse), and in Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Colombia, where he is known simply as "El Ratón Pérez". He was used by
Colgate marketing in Venezuela and Spain.
Elsewhere in Europe In
France and French-speaking
Belgium, this character is called
La Petite Souris (
The Little Mouse). From parts of
Lowland Scotland comes a tradition similar to the fairy mouse: a white fairy rat who purchases children's teeth with coins. In
Italy, the tooth fairy (
Fatina dei denti) is also often replaced by a tiny mouse named
Topolino.
Formichina (little ant) can also be present in
Veneto. In some areas the same role is held by
Saint Apollonia, known as
Santa Polonia in
Veneto. (Saint Apollonia's legendary martyrdom involved having her teeth broken; she is frequently depicted artistically holding a tooth and is considered the patron saint of dentistry and those with toothache and dental problems.) In
Catalonia, the most popular would be
Els Angelets (little angels) and also "Les animetes" (little souls) and as in the other countries, the tooth is placed under the pillow in exchange of a coin or a little token. In the
Basque Country, and especially in
Biscay, there is
Mari Teilatukoa ("Mary from the roof"), who lives in the roof of the
baserri and catches the teeth thrown by the children. In
Cantabria, he is known as ''L'Esquilu de los dientis'' ("the tooth
squirrel").
Asia and Africa In
Japan, a different variation calls for lost upper teeth to be thrown straight down to the ground and lower teeth straight up into the air; the idea is that incoming teeth will grow in straight. In Korea, throwing both upper and lower teeth on the roof was common. The practice is rooted around the Korean national bird, the magpie. It is said that if the magpie finds a tooth on the roof, it will bring good luck. Some scholars think the myth derived from the word (Ka-chi) which was a middle Korean word for magpies that sounds similar to "new teeth", or because of the significance of magpies in Korean mythology as a messenger between gods and humans. In Middle Eastern countries (including
Iraq,
Jordan,
Egypt, and
Sudan), there is a tradition of throwing a baby tooth up into the sky to the sun or to
Allah. This tradition may originate in a pre-Islamic offering dating back to the 13th century. It was also mentioned by
Izz bin Hibat Allah Al Hadid in the 13th century. In
Mali, children throw baby teeth into the chicken coop to receive a chicken the following day. In Afrikaans speaking families in South Africa, children leave their teeth in a shoe so that the Tandemuis (Tooth Mouse) can replace the teeth with money. ==In popular culture==