When Dad's Hair Took Off
A father’s balding inspires far-flung, humorous adventures in Jörg Mϋhle’s winsome chapter book When Dad’s Hair Took Off.
A child narrates this vibrant story about the fate of their father’s hair: wanting “a life of its own,” it springs loose during his grooming routine, and her father scrambles after it. His hair sails out of the bathroom and into the wider world, at first seeming to settle on the grass. Then it travels over the hills and into town, to a restaurant, to the zoo, and even to the sea.
With all the relish of a tall tale, deadpan timing, and choice vocabulary (with words like rootling and hullabaloo), the story morphs and leaps from one improbable act to the next. The hair is personified: it shares fond musings (it and the father had “done everything together,” from attending kindergarten to going to the dentist), and it sends mischievous postcards, too. Comical illustrations further enhance the silliness, depicting the father’s effort to get his crowning glory back.
The messes that result from the chase are hyperbolic: plumbing fixtures tip over, townsfolk tumble by the wayside, and objects fly as the now-bald man, clad in a house robe, races around with a butterfly net. The hair, in turn, is drawn as individual prickles that move in capricious streams and sometimes camouflage themselves. The unnamed child’s clear amusement about what’s now become family lore is also a highlight; they even include their own elaborate diagram and express affection toward their father, whose vanity is never stated outright.
In the fabulistic chapter book When Dad’s Hair Took Off, harrumphing desperation takes over when a man seeks his wayward hair, tracking it through a bevy of shenanigans.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
