cover image Natalie’s Hair Was Wild!

Natalie’s Hair Was Wild!

Laura Freeman. Clarion, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-328-66195-1

Natalie is an African-American girl whose natural hair “couldn’t be tamed by a comb or a pick or restrained by barrettes or a clip.” She loves its wildness, but so do a zoo’s worth of animals, who gradually take up residence in her tresses (“An ostrich thought it was the perfect place to hide his face”). As Natalie’s hair grows wilder, “Natalie didn’t care” is the book’s refrain. But eventually she acknowledges (“for at least a week”) that with great hair comes at least a little responsibility. In her first outing as author, illustrator Freeman (Fancy Party Gowns) captures her heroine’s winning self-possession with concision and calm. Natalie never expresses panic or regret, and when she finally tells the animals to vamoose, it’s because they’re the ones at fault: “They won’t let me sleep, and they’re just plain rude.” The digital illustrations have a collaged feel that adds to the sense of fanciful fun, but the most impressive element of all is Natalie’s prodigious hair, a soft, cloudlike coif. Ages 4– 7. [em]Agent: Bernadette Szost, Portfolio Solutions. (Jan.) [/em]