Six Haunted Hairdos

The Hamlet Chronicles #2

by Gregory Maguire, Elaine Clayton (Illustrator)

Miss Earth's class is divided--the boys believe in ghosts, but the girls definitely do not. Luckily the boys know what to do if they see a specter: 1. Pinch yourself to make sure you're awake. 2. Pinch the ghost, to make sure it's real. 3. Run away--as fast as you can!

The girls have a better idea--scare the boys by dressing up as six spooky hairdressers from beyond the grave. But when some real ghosts show up, both groups have to pinch themselves!

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gregory Maguire is an American author, whose novels are revisionist retellings of children's stories (such as L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into Wicked). He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Tufts University, and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany. He was a professor and co-director at the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature from 1979-1985. In 1987 he co-founded Children's Literature New England (a non-profit educational charity).

Maguire has served as artist-in-residence at the Blue Mountain Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Hambidge Center. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and just ok.

[Farah Dinniyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a unique one. I love the idea on rescuing ghosts, where a group of children reunites two ghosts - an adult elephant, and a baby elephant. The first thing that lured me is the illustration, then the blurb.
However, I feel the story could have been shorter - readers could have arrived to the climax a lot quicker. The conversations are long, and slowly feels lengthy and tedious, making few chapters difficult to complete.
I would recommend the book to young adults, adults with a penchant for children's stories, and for parents as a good bedtime story for their kids!

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute sequel to Seven Spiders Spinning - I liked it better. The kids have an argument over whether ghosts are real. Their ideas to scare each other, and their solution to the real ghost is clever. I also like the bits of research some kids do to find out the truth. (The cover is creepier than the story by a lot!)

[Farsha Bila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story tells about a bunch of kids finding parents for a baby elephant ghost. I gave it 3 stars since some parts became too long and tedious. However, I love the cover and some illustrations inside. This would be perfect for younger children to read

[jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this series of books because the first one is called "Seven Spiders Spinning," and my son Harry loves books about spiders, so that was that. I was happy to see that it was part of a series because he loved it, and laughed basically all the way through.

Then when I was adding it to the list of books he's read I noticed that some of the reviewers here were, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about it. By that time we'd taken it back to the library and Harry had finished "Six Haunted Hairdos" and was giggling madly halfway through "Five Alien Elves," so I thought I'd pick it up and give it a read.

Loved it!

The story is original and engaging, the characters are funny and interesting, the language is excellent. Most of the criticisms I read either missed the mark or missed the point.

One person said the children's names seemed "dated" - so what? Comical and descriptive naming is common to lots of great writers - from Dickens to Dahl - and doesn't detract from the story at all. I also liked that the characters' names reflected a diverse society, as opposed to being all Dick & Jane.

Another said that the children's dialogue didn't seem realistic. True, it's no Junie B Jones, but I tend to see good grammar as a plus. Also, my son does talk like that, sometimes. Other times, he says, "Hulk! Smash!" I prefer the full, well-constructed sentences.

Finally, to those critics who think the humour in this series is aimed too old - more for the parents than the kids - while I love the humour as a middle-aged woman, my son loves it more as a six-year-old boy.

We are always on the lookout for age-appropriate, not-too-scary, not-too-mature (but also not boring) chapter books to keep him busy, and I am so glad we stumbled across Gregory Maguire. Will definitely recommend the series to other kids!

[Asianator · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didnt really enjoy this book becuase im not really interested in this. I first read a few pages and it bored me out. The book was basically about how these gang of boys who believ e in ghost were caught into a ghost incident. The girls were also trying to scare them becuase they didnt believe in ghost. the boys were really scared when one day a object came and gaved them a scare. The next day, a indian boy went to the woods to talk to the ghost since he knew that the ghost came to him. The boys also knew he was to finish the job. He knows its him becuase he once killed a elephant by feeding it nuts. The nuts killed the elephant so he felt regretful. He then talks to the elephant and the elephant scared him but a mouse appeared and helped him out.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great because in the end everyone works together to get a ghost baby elephant with a herd of ghost woolly mammoths. I didn't want to stop reading until I figured out the mystery. I learned that it doesn't snow in India. I thought that the empress of the Tattletales was funny when she said "There's a ghost baby elephant right here in front of our eyes!" I think my best friend would like this book. I would read other books in this series.

[Janie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not some of the best kid's literature I've ever read, but it made me laugh a little in the short time it took to read it.

[Flower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book but no where near as good as What the Dickens. 3rd - 5th grade humor. Cute ideas.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another cute Halloween story for children. Good message.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for young adults who may or may not believe in ghosts.