Ratoncito Pérez

Although he first appeared in oral tradition folktales such as The Vain Little Mouse, it was Luis Coloma who in 1894 turned him into a tooth dealer in a tale written for an eight-year-old King Alfonso XIII.

Very neatly, [King Buby] put under the pillow the letter with the tooth inside, and sat on it ready to wait for Ratón Pérez, even if it was necessary to stay awake until dawn.

[3] Coloma's story follows Ratón Pérez, who lived with his family in a box of cookies at the basement of Prast confectionery store in Madrid, but frequently ran away from home through the pipes of the city, and into the bedrooms of children who had lost their teeth.

The story details how he cunningly misleads any cats in the vicinity who may be lurking, and includes his interaction with King Buby (Queen Maria Christina's nickname for Alfonso XIII).

[5] In 2003, the City Council of Madrid paid tribute to Ratón Pérez with a commemorative plaque at the façade of Number 8 Calle del Arenal [es], where the mouse was said to have lived.

[6] The plaque reads: "Here lived, in a box of cookies at Prast confectionery store, Ratón Pérez, according to the story that the father Coloma wrote for the child King Alfonso XIII".

[5] El Ratón Pérez stars in the 2006 Spanish-Argentine live-action/animated film The Hairy Tooth Fairy directed by Juan Pablo Buscarini [es], and in its 2008 sequel.