BAGHEAD

Fans of David Shannon’s No, David! (1998) and its sequels will enjoy this lookalike episode. Young Josh cuts mouth and eye holes into a paper bag and no one, not parents, school bus driver, teacher, or soccer coach, can get him to take it off. What’s up? The reason comes out that night: he’d tried to cut his own hair, with predictable results. The next morning, Josh’s resourceful little sister offers an alternative to the bag by whipping out a tube of hair gel and giving him a wildly asymmetrical ’do. The brief text is printed in an array of big, hand-lettered-like typefaces, placed alongside brightly colored, energetically brushed scenes of a skinny-limbed lad trying to put on a brave show, whether sporting that sack on his head, or, at the end, grinning from beneath a pate topped by writhing blonde spikes. A plain brown jacket with die-cut holes gives this playful episode an eye-catching wrapping. (Picture book. 5-7)