The Girl Who Wouldn't Brush Her Hair

KATE BERNHEIMER is the author of the picture books The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and The Lonely Book. A fairy-tale expert, she is also the author and editor of many books for adults, including the story collections Horse, Flower, Bird and My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales, a World Fantasy Award winner.

JAKE PARKER is the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling picture book The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon. He is also the creator of the Missile Mouse graphic novel series. He has worked creating sets and environments for feature films like Horton Hears a Who, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Rio.  
From the Hardcover edition.

PreS-Gr 2–A nameless heroine refuses to brush her bear-brown hair after her nightly bath. When the grown-ups, who hover at the edges of the story, object, she says, “It's just my way.” A mouse nests in her tangled curls, but she is unafraid. Rather, she welcomes scores of other mice, enjoying the company of her companions who tell knock-knock jokes and are kind to her favorite doll, Baby. Soon, the girl discovers some drawbacks to her unusual situation. She must share her food with the mice, they refuse to go in the bath, and they keep her awake all night. The hungry, dirty, and exhausted little girl does not know what to do until her teacher tells her that she can't bring Baby to school because she already has too many naptime friends with her. The child gently explains to the mice that it is time for them to go. That night, she washes and brushes her locks and finally gets a good night's sleep. On the playground, a couple of mice scout for a new home in the pigtails of another little girl. It is “just their way.” The digitally colored illustrations focus on the girl, showing her in her comfortable home or her cheerful schoolroom. Her luminous face expressively portrays her emotional journey throughout the fanciful fable. For a more straightforward treatment that also addresses the resulting struggle between mother and daughter, try Lee Fox's delightful Ella Kazoo Will Not Brush Her Hair (Walker, 2010).–Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.