What if the truth about tooth fairies wasn’t hidden in glitter and wings—but in research, observation, and a healthy dose of curiosity?

In her CBCA-shortlisted book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (and Some Things You Didn't), award-winning author and illustrator Briony Stewart invites readers to explore a colourful, chaotic, and unexpectedly gross world of tooth fairy life. Presented like a quirky field guide, the book answers some of the biggest questions children have—Why do some kids get more money than others? What do fairies actually do with all those teeth? And do they really eat dirty socks?

We caught up with Briony to hear more about the real-life inspirations behind her fictional research, her childhood spent in university zoology corridors, and why she believes it’s so important to embrace the weird, wonderful, and mysterious in storytelling.

What inspired you to reimagine the world of the tooth fairy in such a detailed and delightfully unconventional way? Did any childhood memories or curious questions from children spark this book?

First of all I always like to point out that this wasn't a reimagining so much as an interpretation of the research that I had collected over a period of time. My father worked in a University zoology department for 32 year and I grew up in those corridors, fascinated by the research of students and academics about all sorts of creatures. When I was 10 the university rediscovered the Potoroo, a creature which had been thought extinct for over a century. It always made me wonder what other things in the world were there but not yet discovered or understood. The possibilities! Naturally this lead to questions about creatures like fairies - what habitats did they live in, what was their diet? It was these kinds of questions that inspired me to research the tooth fairy and put my findings into a book for other curious children.

The idea that there are millions of different tooth fairies—each with their own quirks and habits—is so clever. How did you develop these personalities and their “gross but great” traditions, like eating dirty socks or shrinking coins?

Well I knew there had to be a reason for the way that tooth fairy's interactions with humans were so inconsistent. Why for example does one kids receive $5 for a tooth when another gets 50c? This question was really one of the first that lead me to do this research. The personalities featured in the book are summaries of some of the many individuals I came to know through my research. The fact that they are a bit gross was honestly just as much of a surprise to me as anyone else, but I guess most creatures are a bit gross in one way or another. I wanted to represent the more honestly, too many other books sort of put them in pink and tutus and made them clean an sparkly, but that isn't how they are.

Your illustrations are packed with colour, energy and detail. Can you share your process for creating the visual world of the tooth fairies, and how you balanced humour, fantasy, and just a touch of ickiness?

This was the hardest part! Obviously for privacy reasons photography was out of the question. I could have tried more  detailed, biological illustrations, (and I still might if I ever submit my research for more rigorous academic assessment). But I wanted this book to be for the people who would be the most interested and affected by the subject - children. So I decided to present the research in a way that showed how quirky and colorful tooth fairy populations are. I used dip-pen and ink to draw the images and then colored them on the computer.

This book has a fun encyclopaedic feel, inviting readers to dip in and out of each page. How did you approach structuring the book as a guide rather than a traditional narrative?

It was always my intention to present this book as scientific research, but the 32 page picture book format made it tricky! There were so many questions to answer so I had to carefully figure out the best way to cover all the important questions and a few minor questions as well as additional information in a way that made sense if you read it from start to finish. I asked several children along the way, what they wanted to know about tooth fairies. 

You have now been shortlisted and awarded by the CBCA for two consecutive years. How does it feel to have Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Tooth Fairy recognised, and what do you hope children take away from it—besides financial tips for tooth loss?

I am so thrilled that Tooth Fairy has been shortlisted! Mostly just because that means that most schools in Australia will have a copy in their library and the information will be available to so many children. Will librarians put it in the nonfiction or the fiction section is yet to be seen. It might depend on whether they believe in tooth fairies or not. But regardless, the information is there for those who want it. 

I hope it inspires kids to ask even more questions, not just about tooth fairies, but everything and to think about what the answers to those questions could possibly be.