Bedhead by Margie Palatini, Jack E. Davis (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

It was BIG.

It was BAD.

It was...BEDHEAD!

No doubt about it, Oliver's having a very bad hair day. His parents and sister try to help. They push, they pull, they spritz and they spray; they goop, they glop, and they mousse. But Oliver's hair is still way out of control. And today's class picture day!

What's a boy to do?

Children's Literature

This silly book, (that's good silly, not bad silly), must be read aloud to be thoroughly enjoyed. Oliver arises one morning and discovers during his morning routine that he has (drumroll)--BEDHEAD. That's hair that's been mussed during sleeping and is totally out of control. Oliver's whole family gets into the routine to try and fix the problem. They use water, spray, mousse and pins to try to tame the red, curly stuff, but to Oliver's vocal dismay, nothing seems to work. It is finally decided that Oliver will wear his ball cap to school, only when he arrives he discovers it's picture day. Ms. Oppenheimer, his teacher announces that Oliver may not wear his hat in the picture. As the photographer begins to count to three, Oliver removes his hat and is amazed that his hair is in place, that is until the photographer reaches the count of three. Suddenly, all hair breaks loose. The resultant photo is not what most parents have in mind for a class photo. This clever book is enhanced by the cartoon-like drawings of its characters and the child-like semantics and sound effects of the text. Students will ask for it at Read Aloud time, again and again. 2000, Simon & Schuster, Ages 4 to 8, $16.00. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger—Children's Literature

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-A loud scream from the upstairs bathroom interrupts Oliver's family's breakfast, and an investigation reveals that the boy is suffering from a bad case of "bedhead." "There was hair going this way. Hair going that way. Hair going up. Down. Around and around." His parents and sister try wetting it and spraying it, but nothing works, and Oliver goes off to school wearing his trusty blue baseball cap-a masterful plan, except that it's class picture day. Palatini's lengthy, hilarious text, which appears in jagged frames that suggest the boy's mounting anxiety, is filled with her signature alliteration and familiar expressions like "Been there. Done that," "a done deal," and "Zero. Zilch. Nada." It will take little persuasion to have children chime in on the "B-B-B-BOING!"s every time Oliver's hair does its thing. The zany cartoon-style illustrations, executed in colored pencil, acrylic, dye, and ink, appear on large double-page spreads with small white borders. Many of them depict Oliver's oversized head, hair flying in all directions, and his family trying to effect a cure. From the shocked expression on Oliver's face on the cover and the bathroom-tile-covered endpapers to the scene of the boy's terrible discovery and the wacky remedies that follow, this is a delightful combination of text and pictures that will have readers coming back for more.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Newsweek

Bedhead is a funny, cartoony creation...You've got to give Bedhead points for realism: the family loses, the hair wins.

Kirkus Reviews

Bell hooks may be Happy to Be Nappy (1999), but young Oliver's glimpse of his morning hair—"going up. Down. Around and around. And there was one teeny tiny clump of hair way at the back of his head that looked just like a cat's coughed-up fur ball"—prompts a shattering scream of dismay. Nothing he or his parents try—not water, not hair spray, not even mousse—has more than a temporary effect, and at last all the "follicly challenged" lad can do is jam a cap on his head before going off to school. Unfortunately, it's Class Picture day . . . Oliver's panic-stricken face, topped with wildly swirling strawberry blond locks, fills Davis's (Mary Louise Loses Her Manners, 1999, etc.) hyperkinetic cartoon scenes, and Palatino (Ding Dong Ding Dong, 1999, etc.) adds plenty of sound effects to this uproarious tale of a truly epic bad hair day. (Picture book. 7-9)

Product Details