MELISSA PARKINGTON’S BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL HAIR
by Pat Brisson & illustrated by Suzanne Bloom
Melissa’s long, thick, shiny black hair impresses everyone. However, Melissa would like to be noticed for something more special, even spectacular. She ponders and attempts several options without any real satisfaction. She practices setting a school record with her basketball foul shots and then tries to become a “good enough” artist for a museum. Next, she vows to become “the kindest person in the whole town” by helping mother clean, sharing cookies at lunch, cheering up a friend at recess, aiding another to study for a spelling test and sending a letter to a cousin with a broken leg. Finally, inspiration emerges from a sign at the mall’s beauty salon requesting donations of hair for children’s wigs. Confidently, Melissa enters the shop and performs one of the greatest acts of kindness for “a boy or girl whose own hair wouldn’t grow.” Brisson’s clear and heartening story is balanced by Bloom’s mixed-media, deeply colored gauche/pencil/crayon paintings depicting an assortment of scenes filled with multicultural children and a compassionate and benevolent young girl who has found her way to make a difference. (Picture book. 5-8)