Punk Wig by Lori Ries

This book is about a young boy's mom who has "alien blobs" inside her called cancer. The young boy visits the mom in the hospital and they talk about the fact that her medicine is going to make her hair fall out. When she feels a little better, the boy and the mom go to a wig shop to buy a wig. The mom and boy try on many different silly wigs and finally decide on an orange, spiky, punk wig. The story then continues throughout the seasons and the mom and the boy spend time together. A year later, the mom's hair has grown back and she finds out she is cancer free. The mom then gives the punk wig to the boy to keep.

I loved this book, probably for the fact that it was so heart warming. There are so many kids out there who have a parent that has a cancer or they may have cancer themselves. This is the first book that I have read that has addressed this issue and I think it is such a good thing. Losing hair from chemotherapy can be such a scary thing for both the parents and the child and this book helps make it less scary by finding humor in the possibility of wigs and being able to spend time together looking for wigs. This book can be a comfort to so many kids.

The illustrator, Erin Eitter Kono, does a good job of making the pictures simple. The pictures express emotion in the reader and I think that should be the main goal for every illustrator to strive for.