EVA AND SADIE AND THE WORST HAIRCUT EVER!

Inspired by a real-life, viral recording of WNPR reporter Cohen interviewing his daughters about a certain unfortunate hair-cutting incident.

Eva has a mop of wild, crazy curls on top of her head that is out of control. It reaches almost down to her tush. Sadie, Eva’s older sister, tries to force Eva’s hair into a more manageable style, when suddenly she has a brilliant idea—what Eva needs is a haircut! Unfortunately, cutting hair is not as easy as it looks. Each snip brings another and then another. With Eva’s shorn locks in a pile around her feet, Sadie knows the situation is “bad, bad, bad!” Chronicling a behavior that almost every child has indulged in (some to a greater extent than others), Cohen taps into youngsters’ natural curiosity and disastrous inability to predict consequences. Told in the first person from Sadie’s point of view, Sadie’s initial sincere motivation and ultimate horror are both neatly captured. But the overall tone falls flat, even though there are exclamation points galore and emphasized italics to show spunk. Allen’s cartoonish illustrations give the girls bright, expressive movement, almost as big as Eva’s untamed tresses.

One hopes readers see it as a cautionary tale, not a road map.