or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $1.14 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Crazy Hair [Hardcover]

Neil Gaiman , Dave McKean
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

List Price: $18.99
Price: $16.65 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.34 (12%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 21? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover $16.65  
Paperback --  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $1.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books for every age and adventure including popular series, classics, and editors' picks in our Kids Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

May 26, 2009 4 - 8 years

"In my hair

Gorillas leap,

Tigers stalk,

And ground sloths sleep.

Prides of lions

Make their lair

Somewhere in my crazy hair."


Frequently Bought Together

Crazy Hair + Instructions + Blueberry Girl
Price for all three: $34.59

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Buy the selected items together
  • Instructions $11.65
  • Blueberry Girl $6.29


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

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. Preschool-Grade 3. --Ian Chipman

Review

'A bold and exciting picture book reuniting notoriously inventive duo Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean ... McKean's audacious illustrations bring the rhyming text vividly to life in this daring celebration of the imagination. Striking and theatrical' The Bookseller 'Sometimes scientifically accurate and sometimes surreal, over-arching all is the movement, rhythm and pace achieved through the combination of text and illustration. Provoking questions about what it is to be free in thought and form, this is a work of unique luminescence that may well change the way hair is looked at forever' The Bookseller --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  • Hardcover: 40 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition/First Printing edition (May 26, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060579080
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060579081
  • Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I make things up and write them down. Which takes us from comics (like SANDMAN) to novels (like ANANSI BOYS and AMERICAN GODS) to short stories (some are collected in SMOKE AND MIRRORS) and to occasionally movies (like Dave McKean's MIRRORMASK or the NEVERWHERE TV series, or my own short film A SHORT FILM ABOUT JOHN BOLTON).

In my spare time I read and sleep and eat and try to keep the blog at www.neilgaiman.com more or less up to date.

Customer Reviews

The artwork is fanciful and works very well enhancing the great rhyming prose. DelGal's Book Reviews  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
My 4 year old daughter loves it! MountainManK  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
We read it every night. Karissa Eckert  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars My 2 yr old loves it and so do I!!! June 30, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Okay so I am a huge Gaiman fan. I know Gaiman has released a couple books for children, but I don't have any of them. When I saw "Crazy Hair" was coming out I actually pre-ordered it. All my expectations were met; it is a great kid's book and I also enjoy it as an adult.

I read through it first by myself to make sure it wasn't too scary. Personally the fact that the main character has all of this crazy stuff living in his hair creeped me out a little. Then the girl gets sucked into his hair; which I thought might be scary to my 2 1/2 year old son. Still once the girl is in his hair she has a really good time. The pictures (in true Dave McKean style) are very abstract and a little creepy. There is one picture in particular with a pirate ship swooping through huge hair folicles that is a bit odd. So all-in-all the normal mix of wildly creative, creepy, strange that I have come to expect from the Gaiman/McKean team. The book itself is a good length for a toddler; long enough to be a good story but short enough to keep their attention.

So, how did my son like it?

He absolutely loves this book. We read it over and over. He loves that every stanza ends with "crazy hair!" and screams that closing statement at the top of his lungs. He thinks it is really neat that all of this stuff lives in this guy's hair. When the girl gets sucked into the guy's hair he thinks it is hilarious and he has memorized all of the neat things she does "dancing in his crazy hair!"

He also finds the abstract artwork fascinating and will spend (well not hours) but minutes at a time (that's a lot for a toddler) just staring at them and pointing out the things he sees.

In summary I was very pleased with this book and so was my 2 1/2 year old son. We read it every night. It is a great story with wonderful artwork. It made me anxious to get some of Gaiman and McKean's other children's books. This is a book that I will keep forever; it definitely gets a spot on my keeper shelf. I would strongly recommend this book for all ages.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Cracked up Mom, Dad and Baby Boy March 5, 2010
Format:Hardcover
I picked this up at the library for my husband to read to our 9-mo old for bedtime. I didn't read it before hand - the title and art made it seem worth the rental. That evening my husband and I were laughing out loud, loving the language and illustrations. Even our baby got into the act, pointing at the pictures and grinning. It was the first book my husband picked up the next night too. We'll be putting in on our book-wish list for the future.

I will say that it is just a tad creepy that this guy's hair abducts the little girl. But its also just a storybook, right?
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly delightful September 6, 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Gaiman and McKean are a match made in heaven and this is my favorite of their collaborations so far. Taken from a poem that Gaiman wrote in response to his daughter's comment about his "crazy hair's" behavior in humidity, he has applied his trademark ear for delightful, offbeat descriptions and, in this case, unusual rhyme. McKean's art is dark, lovely, and fantastical and enhances the text. I highly recommend this.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Neil Gaiman's Cutest Kids Books
This book is especially cute to read to children with long hair. My 4 year old daughter loves it! I also love this illustration style. Read more
Published 4 months ago by MountainManK
3.0 out of 5 stars Playful...but...
Also sort of creepy and a little gross too. I like it, and my 3 year old periodically requests it, though not as much as many other books we have around the house. Read more
Published 5 months ago by B. Colwell
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best writers around today
I have been a fan of Neil Gaiman for a long time now, but that was in reading his adult fiction (and by adult I'm just indicating that it wasn't written with a child audience in... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Alfred
5.0 out of 5 stars As fun to read as it is to hear
Fun one to read to the six year old. There were a couple of words she didn't understand, but she was chiming in with "crazy hair" all the way through. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Okie Jeff
5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!
My husband picked this up for our daughter when he was TDY in Arizona, and I love to read it to her!
Published on November 5, 2010 by Lori Lindsey
5.0 out of 5 stars A Hairy Yet Strange Great Read
Nail Gaiman does it again with his odd, yet intriguing writing about a man with hair so crazy things actually live in it. Read more
Published on July 26, 2010 by DelGal's Book Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, unique, the whole family loves it
I noticed this book sitting on display on top of one of our library's bookshelves and grabbed it just based on the cover. Read more
Published on June 24, 2010 by Erisha126
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Minds
This is everything I expected from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. They are a brilliant duo and they never let me down. Read more
Published on January 20, 2010 by Charlotte Sometimes
5.0 out of 5 stars It's a fun, different and zany picturebook choice!
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's CRAZY HAIR offers a zany, artistic set of illustrations telling of a man's crazy hairdo and a girl's comments. Read more
Published on November 21, 2009 by Midwest Book Review
1.0 out of 5 stars Another Girl-Child Gets Eaten. BUURRRPP !!
This book can be analogized to a story of Little Red Riding Hood, told from the wolf's point of view, which ends with the wolf swallowing Riding Hood, and then boasting that she is... Read more
Published on October 6, 2009 by J. Whelan
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category