Nonfiction Monday: Big Wig by Kathleen Krull

100 Scope Notes is honored to host Nonfiction Monday this week. Add a comment with your review URL and I’ll include it in the bottom of this post.

Big Wig: A Little History of Hair
By Kathleen Krull
Illustrated by Peter Malone
Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
ISBN: 9780439676403
$18.99
Grades 2-4
In Stores

I recently went out in public wearing a bow tie with my hair completely slicked back. I was about to include a picture, but then I realized this is the internet and I may live to regret sharing said image.

This was not completely by choice. I was attending a 1930s themed wedding so I figured this is how a dude of the 30s just might have rolled. It made me think of how every period of time (and culture) in human history can in some way be defined by its hair. Big Wig: A Little History of Hair does a nice job of capturing the evolution and significance of hairstyles through the ages. As Kathleen Krull states in her author’s note, “the history of the world is the history of hair.”

Beginning with prehistoric Africa, each turn of the page highlights a different stage in hair and brings us closer to the modern day. Just about every stop along the way hits a different part of the world reveals something interesting. From Egyptians shaving their heads to fend off bugs, to Aristotle’s unusual (and, for the modern reader, disgusting) cure for baldness, the list of things that people done to their ‘dos is incredible.

Peter Malone’s gouache illustrations set a perfect tone. His refined style fits right in with the historical focus of the book, but also nicely conveys the frequent humor of the text.

A well-crafted title on a topic that doesn’t get much play, chances are your collection is in need of a book like this.

Review copy from publisher

Shout-out to my wife for bringing this book to my attention.

Also reviewed by Bookends, Waking Brain Cells, The Fourth Musketeer, Shelf-Employed.

Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

Nonfiction Monday continues…

1. Mary Ann reviews Journey Into the Deep at Great Kid Books
2. Myra from GatheringBooks reviews Bright Path: Young Jim Thorpe
3. Jeff at NC Teacher Stuff reviews Wagons Ho!
4. The Nonfiction Detectives review Baby Mammoth: Frozen in Time
5. Shelf-Employed reminds everyone to nominate books for the Cybils awards
6. Alex from The Children’s War reviews Ghosts in the Fog: the Untold Story of Alaska’s WW II Invasion
7. Wild About Nature blog interviews nonfiction author Carole Gerber
8. Deborah at The Swimmer Writer reviews I Feel Better With a Frog in My Throat: History’s Strangest Cures
9. Lori Calabrese Writes! reviews Seymour Simon’s latest, BUTTERFLIES
10. Jennifer at Jean Little Library reviews Dreadful Fates by Tracey Turner
11. Shirley at SimplyScience reviews Polar Lands by Sean Callery
12. Peggy at Anatomy of Nonfiction  reviews THANK YOU SARAH, THE WOMAN WHO SAVED THANKSGIVING by Laurie Halse Anderson
13. Jennie at Biblio File rants about Chasing Lincoln’s Killer
14. Ana’s Nonfiction Blog reviews Tales of the West Coast
15. Roberta at Wrapped in Foil celebrates World Space Week with a selection of titles
16. :paula at Pink Me reviews Bobo Explores Light
17. Janet Squires reviews Fearless: the story of racing legend Louise Smith by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Scott Dawson
18. Brenda at Prose and Kahn reviews All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson
19. Tammy at Apples with Many Seeds reviews Going to School in India by Lisa Heydlauff
20. Anamaria at Books Together Blog reviews Before They Were Famous by Bob Raczka
21. Anastasia reviews The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont by Victoria Griffith (Author) and Eva Montanari (Illustrator) at Picture Book of the Day and Mammoth Bones and Broken Stones: The Mystery of North America’s First People by David L. Harrison (Author) and Richard Hilliard (Illustrator) at Chapter Book of the Day
22. Cindy and Lynn at Bookends review The Boy Who Bit Picasso by Antony Penrose

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