The Tear Thief
The Tear Thief
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The Tear Thief

Written by Carol Ann Duffy & illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli
Paperback
$8.99
$8.58
4 - 7
Reading age
32
Page count
620L
Lexile measure
Mar 15, 2018
Publication date

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What's The Tear Thief About

Publisher Summary

What Kind of Book is The Tear Thief

Genres

literary fiction

Gallery

    Late one evening, the Tear Thief crept into a town. The Tear Thief was invisible and carried a silvery, waterproof sack on her back. Only if you happened to look into a puddle as she was passing could you see what the Tear Thief looked liked because a puddle was the one thing that showed her reflection. The Tear Thief had short spiky white hair and big grey eyes. She wore a handkerchief dress and silk slippers that made no sound as she walked.
    The Tear Thief jumped lightly from the top of the tree on to the roof of the first house. She crept along the rooftops, silent as smoke, listening, listening, until she heard the crying again. ‘Boo-hoo-hoo!’ Ha! The crying was coming from Number 17. Quick as a blink, the Tear Thief slid down the chimney into the attic and pressed her ear to a floorboard. ‘Boo! Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo-hoo!’ Down the stairs, sly as a steam, sneaked the Tear Thief, on to the landing and into the bathroom. A boy was sitting in the bath crying his eyes out. His mother was kneeling by the side of the bathtub holding a pink bottle of strawberry shampoo.
    A light rain began to fall, orange under the street lights. The Tear Thief worked hard. She stole the oddly long tears of a boy who had trapped his finger in a flute. She stole the tiny tears of a baby having her nappy changed. Into the sack: the tears shed by a pair of twins fighting over an orange teddy bear. Into the sack: two pear-shaped tears from the sly cheeks of a boy who’d been caught telling a lie about a big hole in his trousers.
    The girl stood up again. Her face was still wet with tears, like the leaves of the trees were with the rain. She gently wiped off one of her own tears with her fingertip and stared at it. She could see the reflection of the Tear Thief there as well! ‘But why are my tears so precious?’ asked the girl. ‘I will tell you everything,’ said the Tear Thief, ‘if you give me your tears. Just close your eyes and listen.'

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Book Details

ISBN
9781846863943
Publication Date
March 15, 2018
Publisher
Barefoot Books
Original Publication Date
January 1, 2007
Page Count
32
Audience
Picture
Reading Age
4 - 7 years
Lexile® Level
620L
Est. Fountas & Pinnell Level
~O
Est. ATOS® Book Level
~4

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