Crazy Hair

By Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Dave McKean

I think I've decided that when I'm a teacher and make a lot of money (ha!), I will probably buy all of Neil Gaiman's books.  They are just so unique, and nothing else really compares to them.

Crazy Hair is a poem about a girl named Bonnie and a man with, you guessed it, crazy hair.  (As an entertaining side note, Gaiman wrote this poem for his daughter, who once told him that his hair was crazy!)

This is Bonnie. This is me.
We were standing silently
She said, "I don't mean to stare.
Mister, you've got crazy hair."

Crazy hair? Oh me, oh my.
Crazy hair? I thought I'd die.
I said "Miss, how do you dare
Talk about my crazy hair?

This hair, you know, is all I own
Since I was two my hair has grown.
Birds fly down from everywhere
Nesting in my crazy hair."

The poem goes on, describing all of the jungle animals, hunters, dancers, hot air balloons, fair rides, and pirates which inhabit the man's crazy hair.  Bonnie, unphased, insists that it is manageable, and demands to comb the his hair.  Surprise!  A long arm reaches out and pulls her inside!  The story has a happy ending though.  It turns out that Bonnie quite enjoys playing with the animals, searching for lost hunters, and digging up buried treasures with the pirates.

The poem itself is surreal and silly, and will probably have most children smiling at the strangeness of it all.  Additionally, the artwork by McKean is so unique that it is impossible to describe with words:

Overall I think the imagination, the cute rhymes, and the unique illustrations of this story make Crazy Hair a very interesting read!