As much as everyone would like to deny it, lice continue to be a problem wherever children gather. Caldecott Honor winner David Shannon (No, David!) takes the shame out of this reality by acknowledging that many children have had bugs in their hair. He tackles the topic with a winning blend of humor and facts.
Shannon gets right to the point with the opening line: "One day, my mom made a terrible, awful discovery... Head Lice!" In a style reminiscent of his No, David! and Good Boy, Fergus! Shannon introduces a redheaded boy watching his mother's meltdown--she leaps horror-stricken into the air, limbs flailing. Next, in a cartoon-like full-spread illustration, Shannon zooms in on the guilty creatures wrapping their six legs around the boy's red locks: "There were Bugs! In my Hair!! And they were laying Eggs!!!*" reads the text below. A footnote with an asterisk explains "*Lice eggs are called 'nits.' "
Shannon expertly toggles between the boy's real-life experience and his flights of fancy about the creatures' activities. The narrator digs his fingers into his red mop wondering, "What in the heck were they doing up there?" A turn of the page reveals the fanciful answer: "Lice-A-Palooza!" Lice play the banjo and the fiddle with limbs to spare, swinging from the poor boy's strands. A bug in full vampire regalia follows, revealing their true purpose: "Actually, they were feasting on my Blood.*" (Footnote: "*Ick!") The author-artist addresses the feelings of a child with head lice ("Everyone will know. I won't have any friends") and the misinformation circulated ("Relax. Dogs don't get head lice"). Even as the boy's mother "arm[s] herself with battle-tested anti-lice weapons" and applies the remedy, the ink and watercolor illustrations keep things light. The boy shares his worst nightmare--"If we didn't stop them they might... conquer the world!"--while Shannon depicts "Bugzilla!," a giant bug devouring trains and toppling buildings against an apocalyptic sky.
Shannon's hero lets readers know there is no guarantee the lice won't return, but also equips them with a treatment and with the knowledge that they are not alone in this potentially shameful predicament. This much-needed book provides both reassurance and comic relief. --Jennifer M. Brown
Shelf Talker: The Caldecott Honor–winning creator of No, David! presents the potentially shameful topic of head lice with a winning blend of humor and facts.