Duncan's (I Know What You Did Last Summer) usually glossy prose could use a little conditioning in this limp excursion. Emily makes a birthday wish for long hair, hoping to land the lead role of princess in the school play. As her hair grows to alarming lengths, birds nest in it, she has to go to the car wash for a shampoo and it gets tangled in the jungle gym. But does Emily learn a lesson, when she gets another wish at her next birthday? Hint: the next school play stars a porcupine. McIntosh (Witch Way to the Beach) interprets the story in cartoon illustrations that border on caricature--Emily's smugness, her parents' concern and her schoolmates' initial envy are as exaggerated as Emily's long locks. Both in the style of the illustrations and the various developments (e.g., the carwash cum beauty parlor), the enterprise resembles last year's Hurricane Henrietta, also about an overtressed heroine. This long-hair tale feels long in the tooth as well. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

K-Gr 2-On her sixth birthday, Emily's wish for the longest hair in the world is granted, and she is chosen to star as princess in the class play. Naturally, continuing growth creates escalating chaos for everyone-she can't fit in the family car, hair and all, and her friends become tired of her tangles. Thus, Emily knows that she must wish for a change on her seventh birthday. Now the class play stars a porcupine, and the illustration of impish Emily's quills and grin make a neat end for a well-balanced look at the "be careful what you wish for" theme. McIntosh's cartoon folks convey a wide variety of emotions. The funny line-and-watercolor illustrations pair well with Duncan's unembellished text. This comic flight of fancy provides plenty of pleasure.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Christina Moore’s light-hearted and spirited narration captures the whimsy of Duncan’s outrageously fanciful story. Emily gets the fun rolling when she blows out the candles on her sixth birthday cake--she wishes for the longest hair in the world, so she can be the princess in the school play. Moore keeps the story moving with careful pacing that smoothly ranges from fast to slow, staccato to fluid, or frantic to peaceful. Her dramatization of Emily and her parents demonstrates her understanding of how families with young children work together to solve problems. R.M. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine