Franny B. Kranny. There's a Bird in Your Hair!
Franny B. Kranny's long, frizzy hair is big trouble. It ties
itself in knots on the buttons of her dress and gets stuck in the
refrigerator door! But Franny B. Kranny loves her hair. She refuses
to cut it and is furious when she has to get a fancy new hairdo for
a family reunion. Then a bird decides to make Franny B. Kranny's hair
its home, and suddenly Franny B. Kranny starts to like her new hairdo...
Best-selling author and psychologist Harriet Lerner and her big sister,
biologist Susan Goldhor, co-authored the children's book What's
So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed? They team up again
here with this hilarious and heartfelt story about daring to be different.
World-renowned British illustrator Helen Oxenbury brings Franny B.
Kranny, her wild hair, and her unique family delightfully to life.
Children's Choice Award winner for 2002.
Reviews
From Amazon.com
Franny B. Kranny marches to the beat of a different hairdresser.
When her family encourages her to cut her long, frizzy, troublemaking
red hair, she refuses outright. She loves her hair. And when, before
the big family reunion, a hairdresser tries to tame her mop, piling
it in a heap on top of her head, Franny seethes and schemes. But
then something funny happens on the way home. A bird lands in Franny's
hair, and she decides the fancy new hairdo isn't so bad after all.
The snuggled-down bird presents some technical difficulties: getting
into bed and taking a bath, for example. But when Franny turns out
to be the hit of the family party, and her formerly disapproving
parents and sister change their tune, this individualist does an
about-face yet again!
Authors (and sisters) Harriet Lerner and Susan Goldhor previously
teamed up on What’s So Terrible About Swallowing an Appleseed?
In their latest endeavor, they create an appealing heroine and a
thoroughly delightful, funny story that will have young readers
everywhere daring to be different. World-renowned, award-winning
illustrator Helen Oxenbury depicts with great humor the fiercely
independent redhead, her mother (who has her own bizarre 'do), her
prissy, sleek-haired sis, and the rest of the Kranny clan. (Ages
4 to 7)
- Emilie Coulter
From
School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-Franny B. Kranny has extremely frizzy hair-and
lots of it. Even though other kids make fun of it, even though it
gets caught in things, she loves her locks. When the family is invited
to a reunion, Franny goes to the hairdresser, who piles her tresses
on top of her head. A bird finds its way into Franny's do and stays
there; much to the child's delight and the family's chagrin, but
the little redhead becomes the hit of the party. The people in this
story are all a bit quirky. Mom has a broad blond streak in her
black hair. Dad's reading glasses give him a perennially perplexed
look. Oxenbury's illustrations are lively and fun…
From
Booklist
Ages 4-8. Several recent books… have shared the curious plot
element of a bird nesting on a person, but Franny is perhaps the
most kid-accessible of the bunch. Little Franny has lovely, wild
orange hair that everyone tries to tame. An upcoming family reunion
finally lands her in the hairdresser's chair, where she receives
an up-do in which a passing bird settles. Careful not to disturb
her tenant, Franny makes it to the party with the bird still in
place, to much acclaim. In the end, she cuts off her hair, giving
the clippings to the bird for a proper tree nest. Kids who have
battled unruly locks will delight in strong-willed, proud Franny
and her hilarious family, wonderfully imagined in the great expressions
and details in Oxenbury's illustrations. Breezy fun for story hours,
with plenty of discussion opportunities.
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