There Was a Little Girl, She Had a Little Curl

by Harriet Ziefert, Elliot Kreloff (Illustrator)

Isabel is determined to be very very good, but a good day turns horrid when she finds a pair of scissors on Mommy's dressing table. Snip by snip, her curly locks fall to the floor. Maybe this "haircut" wasn't such a good idea after all! Cutting your own hair is a universal "mistake" of childhood. Grown-ups and children alike easily remember the "little" haircut they gave themselves. With this reassuring story, young children will understand that even horrid mistakes can usually be fixed.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Epic

36 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2006

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[Brooklyn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really cute book for little kids. The little girl, Isabel is usually a very, very good girl. But when she is bad, she is horrid. Isabel went all day being very, very good, but at the end of the day she started making some bad choices. Isabel finds a pair of scissors and cuts off her hair!

[Jocelyn Boop]

Why I chose this book:
I chose this book because the students will be able to relate and because of the colorful illustrations.

What I liked about the book:
I liked this book because the students will be interested in what Isabel will do next.

How I would use this book in a future classroom:
I would use this book when we’re talking about making predictions and solving problems.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Joan got me this copy when we worked in the library together. So sweet a book.

[Caitlyn]

Cute for every curious kid who wants to be good to read.

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about choices.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabelle is a little mischievous. I don’t like books that kind of make it ok to be naughty. This is one of those borderline books. She cuts her hair and then every works our great, the end.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabel is a good girl who usually makes good choices. When she is bad she is not just bad, she is horrible. After spending the majority of her day being good Isabel makes some bad choices. The worst of which involve a shiny pair of scissors.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story -- a typical real-world incident of a little girl who cuts her hair. Our oldest has given her sister a haircut already, so we know first-hand how realistic this story is!

[Emily Metroka · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh

[Joy Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR 2.7 and 0.5 pts