Wally Does Not Want a Haircut

April 1, 2016
Wally's got one wild and wooly problem. Even though his out-of-control fleece trips him up, gathers leaves and twigs, and keeps him from hugging his mama, young Wally does not think he needs a haircut. When the shears go "Swicka! Swicka!" and the clippers go "Bzzt! Bzzt!" Wally wigs out and hides between two large bales of hay. Mama shows him that haircuts don't hurt by getting one herself. The sheepdog, the horses, the bull, and the goats all get new hairdos too, but Wally's still afraid. "Cows got curls, donkeys donned updos, and the yak sported spikes. Even the pigs wore wigs." Wally is still not interested in a shear. Then the animals decide to have a haircut hoedown, and Mama asks Wally to dance; he wants to come out of hiding...but he's stuck thanks to his wool. He finally asks Mama to cut his hair and discovers that he loves the freedom of short wool. Driscoll's alliterative sheep tale is a satisfying-enough story of fears faced. Children scared of barbers or the shears will identify. The Photoshop-painted pencil-sketch illustrations are acceptable cartoon farm fare: smoky, smudgy, smiling animals with wacky mops. Still, among the annals of haircut resistance, amiable though this book is, it's not a radical departure from the rest. Cute--but it doesn't stand out from the flock. (Picture book. 2-6)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2016

PreS-K-Wally the woolly lamb has a very impressive coat-one he is proud of and does not want trimmed. However, his hair becomes a hindrance from time to time. It often causes him to trip and tumble, and, sadly, it blocks him from hugging his mother. One day, Mama decides that she has waited long enough and declares that today is the day that Wally will get shorn. Even the sound of the shears sends Wally into a tizzy. With the help of a few barnyard friends with fancy new "dos," and an inconvenient mishap, Wally concedes and gets his hair cut after all. This is a story that many children will relate to, and it will have them rooting for Wally from the very beginning. Plus, the joy of Wally's realization that the haircut wasn't so bad after all is a relief to everyone. The text is full of terrific vocabulary that is not watered down for the audience, and the brightly painted, full-page illustrations are appealing and comical. VERDICT Full of alliteration, rhyme, and onomatopoeia, this humorous and cheerful picture book will be a fun read-aloud for the younger crowd.-Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.