Big Wig: A Little History of Hair

Big Wig: A little History of Hair

 By: Kathleen Krull

Illustrated by: Peter Malone

Copyright: 2011

 

In this book, the author writes about the many different trends in hairstyle over the centuries. From 11,000 years ago in Northern Europe, to 3,000 years ago Scotland to  30 years ago  New York. There are some trends that seem to be a one-off, but others seem pretty consistent over time. This book combines information about many different cultures using hair to compare across seemingly unrelated time periods.

I picked up this book because I thought it might get some students who wouldn't normally read non-fiction, interested in a non-fiction book. However, after reading, I'm just glad I got it because I think it is really cool. It's written in present tense for each culture and often provides a story to go with the hair. For instance, "Around 1810, Vienna Austria: Many artists and musicians think wigs are stupid. One is...LudWIG van Beethoven, with his long, wild hair. So many musicians wear the unfashionable longer style that for years classical music is known as 'longhaired music.'" Throughout the course of the book, the reader also gets to read about George Washington, Marcel Grateau (inventor of the curling iron), Madame C.J. Walker ("one of the first African-American millionaires in history").

What I think I liked the most was seeing some consistency over the centuries. For instance, 1785 France women would put items (bird cages, a vegetable garden, planets revolving) in their hair. When I read that I thought how very weird. But, a few days later I was in the school and one of my students had about 50 different brightly colored plastic pieces in her hair attached to braids. How different is that really? We put bows in our hair, headbands, tiaras, flowers. So literally, for centuries, women have been adding things to our hair to make it look prettier. How fun is that!

The illustrations are also pretty cool. They're pretty interpretive which I think makes them interesting. For instance, the author talks about a bald cure used in Rome 2,000 years ago (horse teeth, deer marrow and toasted mice), and to illustrate, the author shows Cleopatra clipping mice into Julius Caesar's hair. Too funny!

This is a great non-fiction book that I highly recommend!