Crazy Hair

Crazy Hair

by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Dave McKean

Ages 4-9

****

A young girl dares to tell a strange man he has "crazy hair" and the man answers with a rhyming tale about the wonderous and mysterious world within his hair.  When she tries to comb hair she is happily sucked into this other world. 

I picked this book up because I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman and the stunning artwork which accompanies his writing.  I expected magic but also something a little unsettling that you cannot quite put your finger on.  I was not disappointed.  The two characters have a quirky relationship through the story.  The young girl Bonnie claims the man has crazy hair and insists on combing it.  However the man is rather vain about his long unruly hair and informs her or warns her, of what lies inside, "tigers stalk... hunters send in expeditions...huge balloons come down to land".  It is the illustrations which set the mood for the story.  McKean appears to use a combination of photographs, found objects, paint and computer illustration to create surreal, full page images.  One two page spread reveals a pirate ship afloat a sea of scaley, magnified hair strands.  The artwork gives a sense of worlds within worlds all twisted up inside his crazy hair.  I found it entertaining that Bonnie seems to be the responsible one worried about the man's hygine while he boasts about what lives in his hair.  I remember being fascinated with long hair as a child.  When I grew up I wanted to be able to sit on my hair.  This seemed like a serious endeavor.  In the end Bonnie tries to comb his hair and she is pulled in by the agitated hair.  However this suites her because she teaches the lions to rhyme, sews the pirate vests and has great adventures safe inside the crazy hair.  I loved the way Bonnie fit right in to the world within his hair.  There is something so appealing about disappearing into another world especially one so outlandish.  She brings a comforting sense of normalacy into the world and into the story almost reminding me of Wendy and the lost boys.

I would love to read this book to younger students, everything about the book would appeal to them.  The rhyming would draw in the attention of children with its easy flow and leave them lingering over the phrases "twisting tangling trails.... and pirate sloops".  Children also have an active interest in hair; they want to touch everyone elses, they like to grow it out, they do not want to wash it. They would relate to the man in the book and it would create many new ideas and questions about hair and stories to share. The illustrations are what would give students that sense of mystery that they just can not put their finger on. We could

use the book to introduce an art project on collage or the students could create images of what they think would live in their hair.  Also as many schools have crazy hair days I think this book would be a lot of fun to read in preparation for the event.

Gaiman and McKean have collaborated on previous picture books such as "Coraline", "Wolves in the Walls" and "The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish".  McKean's artwork for older audiances can be viewed at http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/.  Gaiman has writing for all ages and auidances from picture books to graphic novels so check out his official site!! http://www.neilgaiman.com/