Toby wants the longest hair in the whole world, but by the time it reaches her knees it is already creating a lot of problems.Things get caught in it, babies yank on it, it flops in her eyes and causes all sorts of accidents. Finally, her mother announces: “That’s it… No more hair!” It takes an understanding grandfather – himself once the proud owner of a lovely head of hair – and a little imagination to find a solution to Toby’s problems.

Little Toby and the Big Hair is the second book by the mother-daughter creative team Kim and Eugenie Fernandes (they previously collaborated on Just You and Me). Eugenie, an accomplished illustrator and writer, has a gift for creating books that young children will want to read again and again. Like many of her stories (The Tree That Grew to the Moon, Waves in the Bathtub), this one begins with a simple desire that grows to fantastic proportions, then comes back to earth with a gentle landing. As always, she holds her reader’s attention with humour and imagination.

But it is Kim who steals the show with her incredible Fimo illustrations. With bright colours and a wonderful eye for detail, she breathes life into this story. (One little piggy, in particular, looks as though it is about to leap off the back cover of the book). These illustrations are simpler than those of our other great Canadian clay artist, Barbara Reid, but no less captivating. This book will expand Kim Fernandes’ reputation considerably, and, I hope, lead to further collaborations with her talented mother.