Doctor De Soto

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Doctor De Soto (ISBN 0-374-41810-1) is a 1982 book by William Steig that won a Newbery Honor. At a mere 32 pages, it is one of the shortest books to receive the award. The plot deals with the kind Dr. De Soto, a mouse-dentist that has to help a fox with a toothache without being eaten.

The story is about Dr. De Soto, a mouse-dentist who lives in a world of animals who act as humans. He and his wife, who serves as his assistant, work together to treat patients with as little pain as possible. However, they refuse to treat any patient who likes to eat mice. One day, a fox with a toothache drops by and begs for treatment. Mrs. De Soto convinces her husband that he needs to help the fox to get rid of his pain, so Dr. De Soto reluctantly agrees. They give the fox some anesthetic and proceed to treat the bad tooth. However, while under the effects of the anesthetic, the fox unknowingly exclaims how he would love to eat the mice, but also expresses his guilt for attempting to do such a thing. The De Sotos remove the bad tooth, and tell the fox to come back tomorrow to get a new tooth. Later that night, Dr. De Soto expresses his disgust that they trusted a fox who had hoped to eat them, although Mrs. De Soto claims that the effects of the anesthetic just got to him. They prepare the new tooth, but come up with a plan to place it in without getting eaten.

The next day, which was originally the De Sotos' day-off, the fox comes back much happier than before and anxiously awaits the placement of his new tooth. The De Sotos proceed with their work, but the fox is licking his lips and thinking about eating the mice. The De Sotos use a long stick to open his jaws and put in the new tooth. However, the fox has decided to eat them. Fortunately, his jaws were held tightly apart from each other, so he couldn't trap them in his teeth. Mr. De Soto uses a special mouth glue and spreads it onto the fox's teeth. When the fox closes his mouth, his teeth were stuck together! The De Sotos told him to wait a few days or a few hours before the special glue wore off (they kept their plan a secret from the fox and pretended that it was part of the treatment). The fox then went home, not realizing that he had been tricked, but clearly disappointed that he couldn't eat the De Sotos. The book ends with the De Sotos enjoying their day off.