José Saracho, The Tuggies, Little Steps Publishing, March 2017, 28pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 9781925545203
Saracho had dedicated The Tuggies to his daughters who presumably wake each day with a head full of knotty hair. This book will be a great comfort to other children who wake up with hair full of knots and have to endure a vigorous brushing each morning. As my niece who has delightfully curly hair (at least I thought it was delightful), says, ‘I know you don’t mean to pull, but YOU ARE.’
Lucy, the heroine of The Tuggies, has this dilemma and is determined to find out the cause of these knots. It turns out to be the work of some tiny, beautifully coloured creatures who like to play in her hair. In fact, they use her hair to play Skippy, swing across with the aid of paper clips, abseil, slide down in a match box or surf on hair clips. They are obviously very creative and extremely fit, but they are giving poor Lucy a serious case of bad bed hair and her mother is thinking of cutting it short. Fortunately, Lucy has good problem solving skills and a certain ruthless disregard for the consequences of her actions on her dog, so her solution leads to her to rising with beautifully behaved hair.
Saracho’s pictures are delightful; besides the illustrations of the misdeeds of the wild little Tuggies, I really liked the picture of Lucy’s bedroom. She has some great things on her book case.
The Tuggies is suitable for children aged three to six.
Reviewed by Katy Gerner
