Year Published: 2002
Written by: Natasha Tarpley
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis
Description
Booklist
Early one Saturday morning, Miles awakens to his father’s special knock at his bedroom door. Together they make their way down the street to the barbershop. In this male sanctuary, Miles is first greeted as “Little Man”, but after he has found the courage to sit up straight for the barber’s scissors and (worse) the clippers, he is told, “Guess I can’t call you Little Man anymore Miles. You’re one of the big boys, now…” Written in the first person from Miles’ point of view, the text clearly conveys child’s sensations and observations as well as his fears and his way of working through them. In addition, the book vividly portrays the boy’s warm relationship with his father. The light-dappled watercolor paintings give the scenes a real sense of place, while bringing the characters to life through the sensitive depiction of their expressions, gestures and body language. A child-centered story, well paced and beautifully illustrated.
School Library Journal
“Lewis’s delightfully fluid watercolor illustrations get everything just right. The book is filled with cheerful and loving scenes of home and community, and remarkably expressive portrayals of men going about their business, tending shop, or awaiting their turns in the barber chair. With its depictions of dreadlocks, Afros, and even gleaming bald pates, Bippity Bop adds diversity to the small but growing niche of multicultural books that celebrate hair.”
