Beard in a Box

March 21, 2016
Beards have long fascinated kids, and adults are clearly fans of them, too, given the scrupulously groomed facial hair trends of recent years. Wearing a lab coat and safety goggles, a gap-toothed boy hypothesizes that the source of his father’s many skills is, in fact, his beard. Seeking the same powers, he shaves patches of the cat’s fur and glues them to his face, and he also experiments with chocolate syrup and markers. An infomercial presents a better solution: Beard in a Box. After applying “beard seeds” to his face and watering them (in a scene with definite echoes of the Chia Pet era), the boy reads the fine print: “Repeat steps 1–4 for 10–15 years.” When his father shaves his beard, the boy learns that being “awesome” might not have anything to do with a beard. Cotter pokes fun at the appeal of too-good-to-be-true products (“Who would have thought SCAM-O would be a dishonest company?” the boy rages), but an earnest message about quality one-on-one time can be found under the shaggy depths of Cotter’s beard-based humor. Ages 4–8. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

April 1, 2016
A boy scientifically proves that it's the beard that makes his dad so awesome. So...how to get one? The baby-faced white narrator won't grow a beard for at least 10 years, but that doesn't stop him from trying: using markers, gluing on some hair stripped from his cat. But then a TV infomercial for a Beard in a Box seems to speak directly to him: "I have an amazing offer for you." By the end of the spot, the boy is yelling over the phone, "Please, take my money!" He carefully follows all the steps, applying the beard seeds, watering, doing the facial exercises, waiting...10-15 years. Whoa! "Who would have thought SCAM-O would be a dishonest company?" A newly shaved dad arrives on the scene to calm him down. Echoing the vignettes that began the book, the closing pages show the dad doing all the things that made him cool, only this time, he does them with his just-as-cool son, teaching him that "awesomeness...is about the kind of person you are." Illustrations done in graphite, watercolor, and Photoshop up the humor level significantly. From the boy's imaginings of what his beard will look like (and each beard's accompanying attribute) to the hysterical vignettes showing him waiting for the mail, exercising his face, and expressing his frustration, the facial expressions are spot-on. Yes, dads are awesome, and if you hang out with them, they'll teach you to be awesome too. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.