Reviews: (by author)

Merrill, Jean. The Toothpaste Millionaire. 35th Anniversary ed. Illus. Jan Palmer. Boston: Houghton, 2006. ISBN 0-618-75924-7. $16.00 www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

Sequoyah Award Winner
Dorothy Canfield Memorial Children’s Book Award Winner

The Toothpaste Millionaire is the story of ordinary kids accomplishing extraordinary things. It begins with sixth grader Kate MacKinstrey who has moved from a suburb in Connecticut to Cleveland, Ohio. Soon she meets Rufus Mayflower, another sixth grader who, she realizes, is a math wiz and a lover of do-it-yourself projects. (He even makes his own saddle bag.)

One day Kate accompanies Rufus on a shopping expedition for his mom. Appalled by the price of toothpaste he determines to make his very own at a lower cost. And he does. (I don’t think there’s anything Rufus can’t do!) With Kate’s help he begins selling it door to door, and pretty soon his classmates want to help, too. Lo and behold, the sixth grader has begun his own business making and selling toothpaste.

As the toothpaste (simply named Toothpaste) becomes popular, Rufus and Kate face challenges in expanding the business: finding aluminum tubes, renting a workspace, making commercials, and dealing with angry competitors.

Readers could dismiss this story as a simple American Dream tale that promotes capitalist ideals. Well, there’s a lot more going for it, which, I suspect, is why child readers bestowed it with the Sequoyah Award and the Dorothy Canfield Award.

First of all, Kate is white and Rufus is black, but they never make a big deal the racial difference; they don’t even discuss it. Second, the novel depicts children working together and respecting one another. Adults often underestimate children. The truth is that kids are much more capable, resourceful and resilient than we give them credit for. When the kids want to make a commercial, they get it done. Kate explains,

Rufus knew a kid named Lee Lu who had a movie camera. Lee Lu had made a complete movie about cockroaches that was so good it was shown in all the Cleveland schools.

Rufus asked Lee Lu if he would help us make some commercials we could show on TV. (89)

It’s amazing what kids accomplish when they put their minds to it.

Another aspect of this book I like is the equality between Rufus and Kate. He never once questions her ability or ideas on the grounds that she’s a girl. Nor does she second-guess herself. Gender differences never get in the way of their friendship, either. (You think some adults could learn from these kids?) But sexism is addressed in the novel. Kate tells readers,

Though we were getting good results with these commercials, Rufus got a letter one day from a girl in Boston. She asked how come the Toothpaste commercials always showed a boy talking about the toothpaste. She said that was “discrimination.” (90)

Of course, after that letter Rufus rectifies the situation. The girl is able to speak up for her gender, and Rufus is able to acknowledge the unfairness. Imagine that!

So far I’ve mentioned race and gender. Next is class. All the kids in the novel seem to be middle-class; it has a Cosby-Show feel. However, a working-class character plays a vital role in the story. Kate meets Hector, a recently laid-off father of five. He’s a mechanic who knows everything about the tube-filling machine they need for the business. Rufus ends up hiring him to run the toothpaste factory. Hector is an intelligent, highly skilled, hardworking man, and the kids have nothing but respect for him. Friendship can cross class divides, too.

So, even for a happy-go-lucky story, Jean Merrill’s The Toothpaste Millionaire certainly has depth. But if that doesn’t persuade you to read it, then read it simply because it’ll make you feel good.

Marie Soriano, June 2007

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