Don't Cut My Hair by Hans Wilhelm is a new addition to my two year old son's library. This book is published by Scholastic Inc. in paperback. You may be familiar with Scholastic if you have school age children. This company has been selling books to kids and their parents through the help of local school programs since I was a child.

Don't Cut My Hair is the story of a small, white, fluffy haired dog. The doggie (whose name is never mentioned) struggles as his owner takes him to get a hair cut. When the dog is at the groomer he says "I hate this, I look silly." At home he says, "everyone will laugh at me, I will never go outside again". Later that day, his friends show up at his house to play and he hides...."they must not see me". The doggie with the new hair cut hides from them. He is afraid of what his friends may say to him, and make fun of him. Until, he comes up with an idea. He puts on a baseball hat and sun glasses. All his friends think he's very cool, and how they wish they had short hair too. They end up playing in a lake at the park. THE END.

As you can see, the story is very short. Initially, I was a little disappointed in the book because I though it was lacking story line. This book is part of the Hello Reader! series and is rated as Level 1, Preschool-Grade 1. The print is large and it is easy to point out the words to my son as I read to him. The illustrations are very cute and colorful, and my son adores dogs. On the first page of the book, before the story begins, there is a section called A Note To Parents with tips about Reading Aloud with Your Child and Listening to Your Child Read Aloud. It is at this section that I discovered how I could make this short story exciting to my toddler.

I asked my son questions as we read the story...
•What is the doggie doing?
•Where is the doggie going?
•Where is the doggie hiding?
•Should the doggie be on the couch?
•Who is at the door?
•What is the doggie wearing?
•What are the doggies doing together?

He has also pointed out items that he saw
•couch
•water
•chair
•pillow
•hair
•door

You can see that this very simple book has sparked a lot of conversation and learning for both me and my son. I like to leave a few books for him in his room to read when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap (I listen to him reading with the baby monitor). It's amazing how he reads this book to himself. I can hear him mentioning the above items as he turns the pages. Granted, he's not reading the words but he is recognizing the items that we discussed. I believe that learning starts at home and a parent should take every opportunity to teach their child through books, music, video and crafts.

Don't Cut My Hair came as part of a six (6) book set for $9.99 at Costco (other reviews coming soon) and I highly recommend it. We have had many hours of fun and learning from this book.

Recommended: Yes