Perez the Mouse

by Luis Coloma

"Perez the Mouse" by Luis Coloma is a tale written in 1894 for the young King Alfonso XIII of Spain. When the eight-year-old monarch loses a tooth, Coloma creates the story of Ratón Pérez, a clever mouse living in a cookie box beneath a Madrid confectionery store. Traveling through city pipes, Pérez visits children's bedrooms to exchange lost teeth for small gifts, dodging cats along the way. This charming story transformed an existing folktale character into Spain's beloved version of the Tooth Fairy, establishing a tradition that endures across Spanish-speaking cultures today.