Parents' Guide to

Crazy Hair

By Patricia Tauzer, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Offbeat fantasy in a head of hair is fun and a bit creepy.

Book Neil Gaiman Picture Book 2009
Crazy Hair Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 4+

Based on 1 parent review

jandrewworld
jandrewworld Parent of 1 and 6-year-old
June 19, 2010
age 4+

A true classic.

This is a wonderful read and a fun book to share with your children. They will love the rhymes, and it is also enjoyable to read it to your child.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Slightly reminiscent of the man whose beard cradled bird's nests, this is a book about a man with hair that houses an outlandish world beyond imagination. When a young girl says he has crazy hair, the man goes off on a poetic tangent about all the creatures that live in his hair. She tries to comb it, but suddenly she is more than an observer.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

While the premise of this book is pretty far-fetched, the language dances through illustrations that are definitely eye-catching. Rhymes speak of tangles and twists of cockatoos, tigers, pirate sloops, and hunting expeditions; imaginative, and definitely unique, artwork depicts each crazy world. Together they build a bee-hive of fun in what might only be called a frenzy of fantasy.

Dave McKean's artwork is colorful and swirly, full of computer enhanced images and a kind of magic you can't quite put your finger on. Rather ugly and distorted at one moment, looking like comic book graphics at another, always with touches of the realistic, it stretches past the poetry toward the edge of somewhere very strange, all of which is quite appropriate to a world existing in a head of hair. If the poetry doesn't grab you, the octopus-like tendrils of tresses certainly will. Just ask Bonnie.

The artwork is quirky, unusual, and eye-catching, and definitely fits the odd story.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about hair, and all that lives in it. Well, maybe not. But, they definitely will want to talk about hair, crazy hair. What would you consider "crazy hair"?

  • Do you think it would be cool to have birds and lions and circuses in your hair? What else might live there?

  • Do you think Bonnie should have said anything to the man about his hair? What would you do if someone told you your hair was crazy?

  • Look at the illustrations. How does Bonnie change from beginning to end? When do you think she was having the most fun?

Book Details

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