My Mad Hair Day

Written and illustrated by Nathalie Dion

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-511-3

44 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2021

 

While many admire voluminous hair, Malie thinks her tangled mess of golden locks are a curse, especially when she tries to tame it. But, somehow, through a series of unfortunate events, Malie finds a way to appreciate the hair she has.

 

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Combing it or hiding it under her cap just doesn't work for Malie. However, as much as she'd like to hide away in her closet, her mother has other ideas, sending the child out on some errands.

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Contending with the wind that carries her billowing hair away and the rain that frizzes it out, Malie trudges through the town on her errands. Along the way, her hair gathers a menagerie of items as it bumps into them or as they fall into or choose to enter it. There are cupcakes, birds, a lamb, a grand piano and even a child on a tricycle.

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Overwhelmed by the burden of her tresses, Malie takes a much-needed time out in a park and awakens to a new appreciation of her hair, courtesy of the cache within.

 

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Of course My Mad Hair Day is a little silly but it's based in a whole lot of reality for those with wildly curly hair, especially if it's also long. I see from her head shots online that author-illustrator Nathalie Dion too has lovely blonde curls and I suspect that she wrote this, her first picture book as author and illustrator, from personal experience. Like a tall tale, Nathalie Dion starts with a germ of reality, that of dealing with unmanageable hair, and blows it up to epic proportions, from the child just trying to comb her hair to absorbing the shock of a falling piano and a lamb confusing the curls for its mother. Then with her watercolour and digital art, Nathalie Dion bolsters that wackiness with extraordinary hair that monopolizes the scenes as it does Malie's life. (That one illustration, seen above, of Malie's mane extending the length of three houses is very telling.) I'll bet this is exactly what children with long curly hair appreciate each morning as they struggle to tame their locks, undoubtedly often throwing their hands up in defeat. 

But Nathalie Dion does not leave Malie defeated. She doesn't let her wallow in her copious hair and frazzle her into gloom. Instead, a "time-out" helps the child gain a fresh perspective on the marvel that is her hair and reach a new level of self-acceptance, something most of us need to learn for ourselves.

• • • • • • •

A French language edition, titled L'ébouriffée, has also been released this month from Dominique et compagnie.