Cowlick!

January 1, 2007
Young bedhead sufferers, take heart! Ditchfield's picture-book debut imagines a playful explanation as to how children who go to bed with neat hair wake up with some wild 'dos in the morning. It's all because of a mysterious but kindly bovine nighttime visitor. Some readers may feel uneasy believing that they could be slurped by a cow while they sleep. But many adults—and kids—who've tried to tame the tufts of wild hair known by the titular term will likely find much to chuckle about here. Brief rhyming couplets set the scene as Beardshaw's (Grandma's Surprise
) cheery, close-perspective acrylic paintings depict the action. She seems to take particular glee in fashioning the sturdily wavy "once-flat hair now standing tall" on three brothers' heads. The cowlick on an additional (furry) member of the family—shown on the final spread—is not to be missed. Ages 2-5.

January 1, 2007
PreS-Gr 1-An attention-grabbing, shiny, wet-looking streak splashes across the cover like a big slurp while a cow-shaped shadow skulks across the endpapers. Within this clever package, simple rhymes on bold spreads tell the story of a mysterious cowlick. Finally, there is a reasonable explanation for all of the hair that goes astray in the night: when kids are sleeping, the cowlick cow comes along and plants a big sloppy kiss on their heads. "To the bedside she comes sneaking/Lifting covers, gently peeking/Sees a face so soft and sweet/Framed with hair so smooth and neat]." Appealingly rich and textured paintings on full spreads depict the course of the cowlick night and the morning after, lending the text a perfect fuzzy nighttime quality. The short, lively text makes this fun for sharing aloud with large groups of young children, especially those with heads marked by the cow's kisses."Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2007
Cows are funny. At least lots of children must think so given the numerous picture books in which they appear. Ditchfield puts them at the heart of things once again in this charming bovine comedy that takes the goofy title word, gives it context, and plays it for all the laughs it deserves. Beardshaw's thickly brushed oil paintings lead the way into a quiet house where two children are sleeping Then a roly-poly cow tiptoes down the hall, inviting readers into the adventure by looking them right in the eye. Slowly, quietly, the cow enters the children's room; gives them slurpy kisses with her large, pink tongue; and vanishes into the night. The next day, the "bathroom mirror shows it all / Once-flat hair now standing tall." Color saturated and unbordered, the double-page spreads include many close-ups that make the book ideal for group sharing, and the simple rhyme is just the right length and tempo for reading aloud. Even very young children will get the joke.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)