BENNY WANTS A HAIRCUT

A tiny pooch accompanies his owner to the hair salon in this Dutch and Belgian import.

Sam looks in the mirror and realizes her hair is getting very long. She can hardly see! It is time to get a haircut. Benny, her squat, mustachioed dog, happily follows. Pierre, the barber, has an elaborate, swirly mustache, in stark contrast to Benny’s straight whiskers. When Sam climbs into the barber chair and Pierre starts snipping, Benny gets scared! “ ‘Shhh, Benny,’ Sam says, ‘It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt when Pierre cuts my hair.’ ” Pierre believes the only way Benny will understand is if he gets a haircut too. Both Sam and Benny leave proudly with brand new styles (Benny, of course, with a swirly new ’stache). Readers take in the sights and sounds of a salon: bonnet hair dryers, the shampoo station, and the act of wearing a haircutting cape, all while learning along with Benny. Meijer adds levity to the illustrations with snippets of hair flying from speedy scissors and oversized curlers on well-coiffed customers. Everyone in the story appears White except one family waiting in the salon with darker skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.4-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 43.6% of actual size.)

An often dreaded new experience gets a makeover.