The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School

Title: The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School 
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson  
Illustrator: Ard Hoyt  
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2009  
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book  
Summary: Zoe Fleefenbacher has crazy-wild read hair...it is helpful hair, though she can't seem to convince her new 1st grade teacher of that.  Poor Zoe tries to contain her beautiful hair until she finally is able to make Ms. Trisk see how wonderful it is.  
What I Think: I love stories like this, stories of kids who are just so different and so fun at the same time.  I'm not sure if it's the red-hair or the wild antics of Zoe's hair that reminds me of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.  This story does a great job of telling a story of someone different who is trying to fit in by making Zoe's hair so cool that you wish you hair could be as cool as hers.  I thought I would want to be able to fly or stop time, but hair that can grab me a cookie and work on the computer at the same time...just think of the things my hair could get done for me while I could sit and read with my kiddos.  The imaginative story with the great illustrations make this a lovable took.
Read Together: K - 4  
Read Alone: 2 - 4  
Read With: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney; One by Kathryn Otoshi; Mathilda and the Orange Balloon by Randall De Seve; The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss; Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Books) by Mem Fox

Snatch of Text: "Zoe had Ms. Trisk for first grade.  

Ms. Trisk didn't fool around.

'School has rules, ' she said.

'No wild hair in my class!'" 

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions
Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Persuasive
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you felt like you didn't fit in.  Write about a time in your life when you helped someone feel included.  Write about one thing about yourself that you are proud of; this could be a personal characteristic or a physical characteristic.  Write a letter to Zoe's 2nd grade teacher convincing him/her how great it will be to have Zoe (and her hair) in his/her class next year!
Topics Covered: Acceptance, School, Character 
Translated to Spanish: No