Mr. Fiorello's Head
Mr. Fiorello's Head
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Written & illustrated by Cecilia Ruiz
A humorous and playful story, both poignant and inspiring, about a man who loses his prized hair, and how to make space for newness and growth.
A 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection!
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Children’s Books to Gift This Holiday Season!
A Toronto Public Library New & Noteworthy Picture Book of the Month!
A Moonbow Best Children’s Book of 2023!
A Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (Montréal, QC) Best Children's Book of 2023!
Mr. Fiorello's Head is both a playful romp and a philosophical tale. Mr. Fiorello loved his hair and never wanted it to go away. But, sometimes, the things we care the most about, the things we never want to see gone, leave anyway. Such is the fate of Mr. Fiorello and his hair.
Fortunately, he still has a head on his shoulders and thoughts in his head, which help him to navigate his loss and disappointment in favor of a larger possibility. Possibilities that lead him from his apartment into the world, to grow and tend to a larger garden than the hairs on his own head.
We may not have control over many things in our lives, but when we do the work inside our own heads that we need to do, our most petty concerns give way to a larger, more generous conception of the world and our place in it.
ISBN: 978-1-59270-379-1
9” (W) x 10” (H) • 64 Pages • HC
REVIEWS
A 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection!
One of the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Ten Best Children’s Books to Gift This Holiday Season”!
A Toronto Public Library New & Noteworthy Picture Book of the Month!
A Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (Montréal, QC) Best Children's Book of 2023!
A Moonbow Best Children’s Book of 2023! “Who knew a story about going bald could be so inspiring? A playful, philosophical, and laugh-out-loud picture book about losing your identity and trying to make the most of it.” —Taylor Sterling, Moonbow
Selected for the Children’s Book Council Spring 2024 Showcase on Transformation
"A glance out his window assures him it’s time for new things to grow, so, applying the painstaking effort he once devoted to his former crowning glory, Mr. Fiorello creates something wondrous in his yard, revealed via an eye-popping gatefold for appreciative neighbors and readers to savor. This is a sweet, simple, quirky story. Children may not have regarded hair growth as analogous to other things’ growth, an idea worth exploring... The lively illustrations are appealing and imaginative... It’s not what’s on your head that’s important. It’s what’s inside—and in your heart—that counts."—Kirkus Reviews
"Hair loss offers an intriguing way for Ruiz to tackle themes of change, loss, and acceptance in this moving picture book... Geometric shapes in pinks and greens give toylike lightness to the images, while a lengthy page count allows Ruiz space to explore Mr. Fiorello’s arc through the loss of an important part of his identity—and the introspection and change that result." —Publishers Weekly
“Cecilia Ruiz illustrates and tells a warm, funny, and touching story of coming to accept yourself, and what you cannot control, without being overly pedantic or moralizing. Hair is hair, and whether or not that is or isn’t the thing you care about most about yourself, there’s always something about you that will change.” —KidsBookRecs