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Summary
Summary
Crazy Hair is a fantastically fun tale written by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by the astoundingly talented Dave McKean, the award-winning team behind The Wolves in the Walls.
In Crazy Hair, Bonnie makes a friend who has hair so wild there's even a jungle inside of it! Bonnie ventures through the crazy hair, but she may need more than a comb to tame her friend's insane mane.
Author Notes
Neil Gaiman was born in Portchester, England on November 10, 1960. He worked as a journalist and freelance writer for a time, before deciding to try his hand at comic books. Some of his work has appeared in publications such as Time Out, The Sunday Times, Punch, and The Observer. His first comic endeavor was the graphic novel series The Sandman. The series has won every major industry award including nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, three Harvey Awards, and the 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, making it the first comic ever to win a literary award.
He writes both children and adult books. His adult books include The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which won a British National Book Awards, and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel for 2014; Stardust, which won the Mythopoeic Award as best novel for adults in 1999; American Gods, which won the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, SFX, and Locus awards; Anansi Boys; Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances; and The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction, which is a New York Times Bestseller. His children's books include The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish; Coraline, which won the Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla, the BSFA, the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Bram Stoker awards; The Wolves in the Walls; Odd and the Frost Giants; The Graveyard Book, which won the Newbery Award in 2009 and The Sandman: Overture which won the 2016 Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Mister, you've got crazy hair," Bonnie, a girl in a tank top, tells the narrator, whose dark hair twists and tangles across the spreads. (Are they strangers? Relatives? McKean's masklike faces make it hard to tell.) "In my hair/ Gorillas leap,/ Tigers stalk,/ And ground sloths sleep," the man tells her. Cockatoos, explorers, hot-air balloons, pirate ships and more-"These await/ The ones who dare/ Navigate my crazy hair." McKean blends line drawing, paint and closeup images of hair to convey the dizzying variety of life within the man's locks. Even the text participates in the mayhem: lines of type swirl, switch fonts, and swell and shrink for emphasis. When bossy Bonnie offers to tame the man's unruly mop with her comb, he warns, "Miss, just be aware/ This is really crazy hair," but it's too late; she meets a Roald Dahlesque end, hauled deep into a new world, "safe inside my crazy hair." While some may find the tale's intensity off-putting, fans of Gaiman and McKean's (The Wolves in the Walls) twisted humor will welcome this lighter-than-usual addition. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Bonnie comments on the narrator's "crazy hair," and he responds with fanciful descriptions of its many denizens ("...Gorillas leap, / Tigers stalk, / And ground sloths sleep"). Bonnie combs the hair, whereupon "one huge arm" pulls her in. McKean's psychedelically colored illustrations, framed by textured swirls, caverns, and landscapes of hair, are a striking complement to Gaiman's fantastical text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The duo responsible for The Wolves in the Walls (2003) return with another chaotic picture book popping with bright collage and multimedia imagery. A man takes umbrage with a young girl ogling his outrageous hairdo, and tells her in a series of increasingly ridiculous rhymes all the things that can be found in the stupendous swaths swirling upon his head ( Hunters send in expeditions, / Radio back their positions / Still, we've lost a dozen there / Lost inside my crazy hair. ) Each page is a veritable feast for the eyes, with frazzled clumps of hair competing for attention with outlandish elements carousels, pirate ships, blue octopi, comb-eating bears incorporated into the frenzied mix. There's something a little unsettling and unhinged about the imagery, just on the safe side of nightmarish; but the text, for the most part, is delightful and glib. The whole thing comes off as a little self-gratifying on the creators' parts, but there is no doubting the dazzling creativity on display. Perhaps best recommended for children with an adventurous artistic sensibility.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This award-winning duo delivers a new romp "through a labyrinth of hair." Bonnie, the intrepid young heroine, encounters an odd fellow with a masklike face and comments on his long, wavy locks. Affronted, he defends his do: "In my hair/Gorillas leap,/Tigers stalk,/And ground sloths sleep.. Hunters send in/Expeditions,/Radio back/Their positions/Still, we've lost/a dozen there/Lost inside my crazy hair." McKean's computer-enhanced, mixed-media illustrations offer a wondrous interpretation of the outrageous objects enumerated by Gaiman: cockatoos are composed in feathery, neon strokes; transparent hot-air balloons expose intricate collage interiors; leaping dancers radiate color. Many of the scenes have a blurry, dreamlike quality, suggesting movement or a hint of foreboding. The hair varies in density from slender strands to massive jungles to tubular trunks, as under a microscope. The text for this surreal poem (at times a bit awkward) curves, spills, vibrates, and dangles, graphically signaling the mood and the message. Viewers will want to follow closely the design on Bonnie's T-shirt; its transformations offer emotional cues and are partially responsible for the scary/safe feeling readers have after she combs the hair and is pulled inside. This imaginative concoction fits perfectly with Deborah Nourse Lattimore's The Lady with the Ship on Her Head (Harcourt, 1990) to celebrate the potential of hair with a life of its own.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
