The What's Missing Mystery: I Lost Something by Beth Johnson

The kids are just arriving at school, struggling out of their bulky winter jackets and boots. Emily stands in the middle of the group, looking a bit wistful.

"I LOST SOMETHING." SHE SAYS.

Her teacher Mrs. Hill looks concerned. The others do, too. Kendra asks Emily if she lost her hat. But Emily says no.

Victor wonders if she's lost her scarf. Jasmin asks if she's missing a glove. Emily shakes her head to both. Nope.

Her boots? The others giggle at Derek's joke, as they imagine Emily walking in the snow in bare feet!

Well, WHAT? Everyone is mystified. What did she lose?

"I LOST MY TOOTH!"

Emily smiles her new gap-toothed smile, and everyone laughs at her trick.

Missing teeth are both commonplace and yet exciting in first grade, and Emily has a little fun with her classmates before the big reveal, in Beth Johnson's early first-grade reader, I Lost Something, in King Press' The King School Series - First Grade Collection (60 books) (Townsend Press). With a bit of a mystery and a word count of 74, this Level 4 early first-grader primer has a lot to recommend it. It's an all-too-common scenario for primary grade readers, and artist Mark Weber portrays the diverse students in Mrs. Hill's class with a variety of sympathetic expressions, while his illustrations provide visual cues for the words for items of dress included in the text.