Wanda and the Wild Hair

by Barbara Azore, Georgia Graham (Illustrator)

Blue-eyed freckle-faced Wanda has a she loves her wild hair dearly, but it drives all the adults in her life to distraction. She loves the way it feels when she touches it. She loves the way it looks when she pats it in front of the mirror. But her mother always nags her to wash it, her father wants to take her to the poodle parlor for a trim, and her teacher threatens to ask the principal to cut it off. What can poor Wanda do? A series of mishaps with a magpie, a cat, and a large English sheepdog finally convince Wanda that her beautiful hair has to be changed. Kids who love their hair will identify with Wanda’s playful solution to make her adults happy.

This first picture book by author Barbara Azore is brought to life by the quirky, mischievous, pastel illustrations of artist Georgia Graham.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2005

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bright illustrations but not thrilled about the message.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanda loves her hair but it was wild, soft and springy. That made it easy for the illustrator to draw the pictures. The story is about how Wanda deals with her hair and finally must make a decision about the things stuck in the hair. It seemed long but has 904 words. The adults and children who looked it over with me did not like Wanda's face or her spindly legs. Wanda's reaction at the end seemed too soft or restrained.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanda caught my attention because of my own precious girl with her free-spirited hair. Though I thought a lot of this story was really cute, there was something that just wasn't quite there for me. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I wasn't all that impressed with Wanda's mother... Jordan was excited to read it, but lost interest about half-way through.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a book about a redhead with uncontrollable hair! All of the adults in her life want to cut it, style it, and bring it under control. But Wanda loves her hair and wants to leave it as it is. Until things get a little out of control...

[Jessica Trufley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be celebrating having different hair, but no. In the end her mom made her cut it off and Wanda, the main character, just went with it. I would not use this book in class because I personally don't thin it was sending the right message, or maybe I just interpreted it wrong.

[Heather Spergel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tale about Wanda and her out of control hair. Illustrations are even better than the story.

[Rakisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun colorful romp about a girl's tough day with her uncontrollable hair.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book.