Blame It On The Tooth Fairy

I have a few rules when it comes to book-picking.  I never, never, never buy (and preferably can dissuade my girls from borrowing) books that are "based on" anything (e.g. television shows, characters created by other authors) or ones that are "created by" someone whose name is surely an alias for one or several writers, or those that seem not to have an author at all.  I also avoid like the plague sequels written by someone other than the original author.  And I don't read - and don't let my children read - abridged books or "classics for children."  Blech.

But apparently I neglected to tell the tooth fairy these rules.  So when my 5-year-old lost her first tooth yesterday, she woke up to find one dollar and My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out, misleadingly listed at amazon.com as being written by Lauren Child but, in actuality, "based on" the Charlie and Lola characters created by Lauren Child.  Even worse, the book is based on a script for the Charlie and Lola television show (written by someone other than Lauren Child).  And the illustrations are from the television animations!  So the progression was original book series to television series back to books based on the television show/characters.  Horrifying, isn't it?

While the writing leaves something to be desired, and a subplot about what Lola will buy with the money the tooth fairy brings her is, in my opinion, not only unnecessary but annoying, it is a sweet book.  When Lola can't find her tooth that has fallen out, rather than the typical route of writing a note to the tooth fairy, her brother Charlie has a more charming idea:

And so Lola does as her brother suggests:

I NEVER make exceptions to these rules.  I can't help it if the tooth fairy violates them.

Do you have "rules" about types of books (not authors or genres, but other classifications) that you won't buy or read, or that you won't let your children buy or read?