cover image Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER!

Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER!

Jeff Cohen, illus. by Elanna Allen. Harper, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-224906-7

With the authority that only a big sister can have, Sadie has decided that her younger sister’s Eva’s Rapunzel-like tresses are “too long, too curly, and way too MUCH.” Taking matters and scissors into her own hands, she gives Eva her first haircut—and, of course, it goes “terribly wrong” (although, as portrayed, it’s short but not exactly horrifying). But while the girls’ parents briefly “lose their cool,” it is only hair, and the repair haircut is downright stylish. “[N]ow that Eva’s hair is short, we can’t imagine it any other way,” says Sadie. Allen (Itsy Mitsy Runs Away) has fun giving Eva’s hair a life of its own—one of her pre-haircut ’dos is worthy of the 18th-century French court, and Sadie asks the fateful question, “Do you want a haircut?” while peering from the dense, blonde depths of her sister’s curls. But newcomer Cohen’s story quickly turns into a mild-mannered domestic sitcom with sunny cartooning and a bright, chatty voice that feels more adult than kidlike. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (June)