Wild, Wild Hair (level 3) (Hello Reader) [Paperback]

Nikki Grimes (Author), George Ford (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Hello Reader

Hating having to get her wild hair painfully combed and braided every Monday, Tisa decides to hide, but once her hair is done, she loves it so much that her mother cannot tear her away from the mirror.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2. Tisa Walker dreads Monday mornings. "School was not the problem./She liked going there./But Monday was the day/Mommy braided Tisa's hair." She hides, but every week her mother finds her, combs and carefully braids her long, thick hair into 20 elaborately plaited braids. Grimes uses her beautiful poetic touch to narrate this story told in easy-to-read rhyming couplets. Ford's appealing watercolor artwork, done largely in pastel shades, extends and adorns the simple story. The artist depicts warm and loving African-American family members, all of whom seem to devote Monday mornings to getting Tisa ready to face the world. In the end, the child is very pleased with herself, but every reader will guess that she'll try to avoid the combing and braiding next week. An enjoyable read-aloud or read-alone.?Sharon R. Pearce, San Antonio Public Library, TX
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 1^-2. Grimes' simple rhyming story in the Hello Reader! series is illustrated with warm, expressive illustrations showing an exuberant small girl and her African American family. Tisa Walker hates Monday when it is time to comb and braid her thick, wild hair. She hides and complains; her father and brother tease her gently; and then she fusses and grumbles as her mother rakes through all the knots ("By now Tisa was sure / to jump out of her skin"). Then her mother's fingers fly, and Tisa soon has 20 thick, beautiful braids. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cartwheel (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590265903
• ISBN-13: 978-0590265904
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Series > Early Reader > Hello Reader

More About the Author

Nikki Grimes conveyed the fire-in-the-belly fervor of a Harlem girl who knows she was born to write in Jazmin's Notebook, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. In My Man Blue, a Booklist Editor's Choice and Newsweek Children's Books of the Year selection, her artful words expressed a boy's journey from skepticism to trust. And now with Bronx Masquerade she presents a rich chorus of eighteen voices, singing openly about ideas, feelings, and questions--things that open minds, invite debate, provide release. A recent Booklist review proclaims: "As always, Grimes gives young people exactly what they're looking for--real characters who show them they are not alone."An accomplished poet, novelist, journalist, and educator, Ms. Grimes was born and raised in New York City and now lives in the Los Angeles area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What we endure for beauty even as children!!, September 20, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild, Wild Hair (level 3) (Hello Reader) (Paperback)

Wild, Wild Hair. Oh yes, Tisa Walker has wild, wild hair! Even her dad calls Tisa his wild child.

The renowned African-American poet Nikki Grimes provides quartets of rhyme to relate the story of Tisa's Monday morning ritual of taming her wild, wild hair, while George Ford created the beautiful illustrations. You see, Tisa has long hair that is so curly and tightly coiled--naturally--that it is quite unmanageable left to its own control.

(During my freshman year in college when I had long, curly hair and it rained almost every day for weeks on end, my hair looked very much like Tisa's. White children can also have this situation.)

Tisa hides, everyone looks for her, Mama finds her. Then the ordeal of combing and braiding begins. But, wonder of wonder--the results!! Tisa has amazing hair, beautiful hair, tamed hair in braids.

One note of irony: Tisa's mom has short-cropped hair. Hmmmm. But don't most little girls want long hair at some point?

(Note: This is a Level 3 Hello Reader for Grades 1 and 2.)

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wild, Wild Hair, January 6, 2000

By 

joslyn bowling-jones (aurora, il) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild, Wild Hair (level 3) (Hello Reader) (Paperback)

A positive, self-affirming book for every little African-American girl with the incredibily impossible but beautiful, curly, long, tangled and naturally textured hair that occurs only in youth, and before all the chemical treatments we subject our beautiful hair to as we get older. Mothers and daughters will relate to this simply rhymed, easily read and enjoyable book. Sure to become a favorite, especially just before the weekly/daily hair combing tug-of-war, which will strike a chord with many African-American children. Lovingly illustrated with true-to-life and entertaining pictures. An excellent children's book at a very low price!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hair stories, July 2, 2001

By 

"rkfj" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild, Wild Hair (level 3) (Hello Reader) (Paperback)

My daughter fights me everytime I try to comb her hair. This book has helped her understand that it doesn't have to be a battle. Also, she can read the book aloud when she gets her hair styled.