A Tale of Tremendous Tresses...Amanda's Perfect Hair
Written: Mar 23 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A cute and oh-so-true tale of titanic tresses.
Cons: I didn't write it myself
The Bottom Line: A cute story that might have you nodding along in agreement...or with an incredible urge to mousse.
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| jenb123's Full Review: Amanda's Perfect Hair Books |
I came across Amanda's Perfect Hair when I was trying to find an entertaining story to read to my daughter's class. I have forgotten what book I was actually looking for, but since my daughter's name is Amanda, I couldn't help but open this book. Once I read a few lines from the book's dust cover, I smiled to myself. What an appropriate book. I should have written this book.
"Amanda's hair is longer than long, thicker than thick, beautiful, curly and magnificent. Her teacher thinks it makes her look like Alice in Wonderland. The next-door neighbor says Amanda's hair is like Niagara Falls..."
As a curly girl myself, I certainly could relate to growing up with some big hair. My Amanda, at age eight, has only recently begun to accept that she will always have thick, beautiful, curly and magnificent hair. She regularly receives comments and compliments about her hair, just like the Amanda in the book and is often just as frustrated.
"When Amanda walked into a room, her hair seemed to enter first. Everyone would turn and look and murmur, "Oh, what pretty hair." Then they would notice Amanda.
Amanda didn't like that.
More than anything else in the whole wide world, Amanda wanted different hair."
Over and over, Amanda's mane is the main attraction. It is compared to waterfalls, a river, or even a python, as her little brother calls her hair when she braids it. She trips over it, it gets stuck in car doors and takes hours to wash and dry.
Amanda's tresses are the envy of many...Her mother, like me, tells her that her hair is so beautiful and how people would give their eye teeth to have hair like her.
"What would she do with extra teeth? Wear them as a necklace? No, Amanda already had plenty of teeth and a nice necklace of her own, too."
As the story continues, Amanda begins to think that her hair defines her. Perhaps it is her hair that is special...Without it, maybe no one would even notice her at all. So off to the bathroom she goes, as her dismayed admirers protest, begging her not to do it..
"No! No! Not your long, thick beautiful, curly, magnificent hair!"
The door opened. Everybody gasped.
A tidal wave of hair poured out the door and into the hall. In the middle stood Amanda. She seemed to be floating on a sea of ringlets and curls"
And even without her magnificent mane, Amanda is beautiful. Perfect. Like an angel. And now that she knows that she is more than a head of hair, Amanda looks at herself in the mirror...
"And anyhow, thought Amanda, I can always grow it back."
Though the story is simple and the exaggerated cartoon illustrations portray a cross between Roseanne Rosannadanna and Goldilocks, Amanda's Perfect Hair contains a few key ideas that only someone who has "been there" would understand. Even when meant as a compliment, being known as "the one with the hair" can be exasperating.
For everyone else, the book offers humor and entertainment along with a small taste of what being "the kid with the curls" can feel like. Young readers will get a giggle out of the almost caricature-like drawings and nearly everyone can identify with at least one of the characters. Maybe you are the curly head, or the neighbor who has four sons and no daughter with cascading curls. Maybe you are one of Amanda's friends, or a squabbling sibling, a mom with stick straight hair or a dad with no hair at all.
While I certainly don't want my Amanda to lop off her locks, both she and I knew exactly how it felt to be driven crazy by your hair and others' reactions to it. I laughed out loud when the book's Amanda got her hair caught in the car door. I hate when that happens!
I, along with my children and their classmates, enjoyed Amanda's Perfect Hair. If you are like me and have been nodding your head, thinking "been there, done that," you will definitely like this story.
Amanda's Perfect Hair is simply a cute story about an even cuter girl who has more than just her name in common with my own daughter. I wouldn't call it an educational book, but there is a subtle message.
For Amanda, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Good thing grass grows back after being cut...
Recommended:
Yes
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jenb123
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