I Won't Comb My Hair

K-Gr 2—Tanya has a full head of glorious kinky hair that she refuses to comb. It keeps growing and gets bushier and bushier. Soon a bird moves in, builds a nest, and hatches five chicks. Tanya stops running, playing, and swimming so as not to disturb them. Then one night she hears strange sounds from deep within her locks. A panther, snakes, monkeys, parrots, and some "I-don't—know-whats" have all take up residence. That's too much! The girl banishes all the animals and starts combing her hair. Soon she's doing it twice a day and trying hairdos with ribbons, bows, and beads of all kinds. Now when her parents try to hurry her along in the morning, she shouts, "Not yet! I'm still combing my hair!" The illustrations are a good complement to the story. As Tanya's hair grows it takes up more and more of the pages. When jungle animals move in, it takes up almost an entire spread. The front cover has an oval hologram that switches between Tanya in pigtails and Tanya with the jungle on her head. This is not the first story about a child with wild hair, but it is a pleasant addition to the list.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI