The Girl with the Parrot on Her Head

When things get tough, Isabel's strategy is to organize a "system." After her best friend moves away, she copes by organizing her life into boxes. A creature from her "wolves" box can't be contained; her search for a larger box leads to a new friend. Cozy, artful screenprinted illustrations in blues, cardboard brown, and scarlet round out this paean to friendship and imagination.

"Once there was a girl with a parrot on her head," begins this paean to friendship, imagination, and ingenuity. By the time this story reaches its joyous conclusion, we know a good deal about the girl, Isabel. We know that she has a best friend, Simon, who moved away; that she lives in an urban row house; that she draws and plays make-believe; that she's a child of color; and that she's the kind of person who believes that when things get tough or sad, the best strategy is to organize a "system" -- a belief that will resonate both with librarians and with all those kids who like things to be just so. After Simon moves away, Isabel organizes her life into boxes full of mostly real stuff ("broken umbrellas," "hats"); some abstract ("the dark"). The system can't quite contain one of the creatures that comes alive from her "wolves" box, however, and in her search for a new, larger box for it, she makes a new friend. What we never learn about Isabel is why exactly she wears a parrot on her head, and in this, as in other aspects of the story (such as the passage of time or what it means to be "good with newts"), Hirst gives hints but leaves us a capacious stage for our own imaginings. In shades of powder- and midnight-blue, cardboard brown, and scarlet, the cozy and artful screenprinted illustrations are reminiscent of messing around with felt-tip markers. This is a fresh and sparky take on the power of play. sarah ellis