Hair Today, Hair Tonight! The Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Reed

IN MY FAMILY, WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, OUR HAIR GOES UP!

Everyone in the family has a special bedtime hair routine to help them look good in the morning. Daddy covers his hair with a wave cap. Sis winds her hair around in a tall updo. Grandma rolls her hair up on big curlers all over her head. Big Brother winds his locs tight and ties a durag over them. Mom pulls hers up high and wraps a scarf all around it.

GRANDPA DOESN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIS HAIR--BECAUSE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY!

Grandpa does, however, have hair jokes:

"WHY DOES THE BEE HAVE STICKY HAIR?"

"BECAUSE HE USES A HONEYCOMB!"

And then it is time for the younger sister to get her night-do. She sits still while her mom braids her hair up into a crown. Now it's time to put on her bedtime bonnet. But where can it be? She can't go to bed without it!

IT'S AS IMPORTANT AS BRUSHING MY TEETH! SHE FRETS.

There's a full-court search for the bonnet! Everyone looks everywhere, except for Grandpa, reading behind his newspaper and Big Brother who strolls in with a smug look on his face.

"ASK GRANDPA!" HE SUGGESTS.

The frantic quest for the bedtime bonnet ends with a big laugh when Grandpa pops out from behind his paper wearing the poofy, flowery bed bonnet, in Nancy Reed's unusual bedtime story, Bedtime Bonnet (Random House, 2020). In this humorous tale of hair care, Nancy Reed's sweet family story joins the genre which must have begun with Rapunzel! Reed's latest is in fetching style with the charming illustrations of Nneka Myers, and with this story joins the ranks of notable and laughable tales of living with those locks. (For more funny hair stories, read my reviews here).

Cut-down: This Monster Needs a Haircut by Bethany Barton

THIS IS STEWART.

STEWART IS A MONSTER.

HE HAS HORNS, AND WILD, MESSY, SCARY HAIR.

And that is the way Stewart likes it. Frightfulness is his forte', and he and his best friend Feliz like nothing better than a day at the zoo, scaring the hair off the hippos, and enlisting spiders to weave spider web castles.

Stewart has horns that a rhino would respect. His long and crooked fangs would turn a dentist's hair the color of his white coat, and his hair--now that is Stewart's specialty!

"I LOVE MY AWESOME HAIR!"

Stewart is sure that his hair is his strongest scare strength, especially when adorned with spiders' nest, lost school supplies, a snack or two--but even a monster mom has limits on her tolerance. Stewart's mom takes his hairbrush (unused so long it has its own spiderwebs) to his tousled tresses, with no success. She pulls out the Mega-Monster Detangler, but the tangles are still more than Mom can manage.

Stewart's dad has the simple answer--a haircut. As an incentive, he shows Stewart a photo brochure of cool cuts--the George Washington, the Punk Rocker, the Elvis--but Stewart is stalwart in defense of his locks.

But at last his green locks outgrow even Stewart's patience. His hair gets so long that it keeps getting caught in the landscape. A troop of monkeys use a length of it for a jump rope! Finally, Stewart is ready to cut a deal over the haircut issue.

"DEAR DAD, MAYBE WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE HAIRCUT A LITTLE BIT. LOVE, STEWART."

Will Stewart the Monster find haircut happiness, or will he wind up wearing a paper bag over his head forever? Find out in Bethany Barton's winsomely illustrated, tongue-in-fang tonsorial saga, This Monster Needs a Haircut (Dial Books, 2012). Barton builds mega-bits of visual humor into her haircut tale (the blackboard at Monster School reads "Homework: Find a human's homework and EAT IT!). Pair this spoof on the scary side of life with Matthew McElligott's hilarious Even Monsters Need Haircuts (see my review here) for a monster tonsorial twofer that'll have kids giggling as they hippity-hop to the barbershop.