The Beautiful Haircut

Billie B Brown #6

by Sally Rippin

Billie is the best hairdresser in the world! She can make her dolls’ hairbeautiful. Can she make her own hair beautiful, too?

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2010

About the author

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin, but grew up mainly in South-East Asia. As a young adult she lived in China for three years, studying traditional Chinese painting. Sally has over seventy books published, many of them award-winning, including two novels for young adults. Her most recent work includes the highly acclaimed children’s novel Angel Creek and the popular Billie B Brown books, which became the highest selling series for 6-8 year olds in Australia within the first year of their release. Sally is Australia’s highest selling female author and her Billie B Brown books have sold more than 4.5 million copies in 14 languages.
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Sally is a popular presenter in schools and at literary festivals both in Australia and overseas and has a regular program on 3RRR interviewing children’s authors and industry professionals. She is a passionate ambassador for the 100 Story Building creative writing centre for marginalized youth and has mentored many emerging writers and illustrators. Recently, she and her partner co-founded Story Peddlers, a hand-made performance tent that packs away into a custom-built bike, with the aim of bringing back the art of the roving storyteller.

Reviews

[Kara]

ah yes the mandatory childhood DIY haircut that ends up looking terrible.

[Katt Hansen]

I think that every kid has that 'oops moment' with a pair of scissors. For awhile there I thought the dolls were going to get cropped and I was relieved when that proved to not be the case. Good grief, Billie B, put away those scissors!

[Julie]

Lauryn (grade 3) says it was actually cool. Billie gives her dolls good names. She would recommend to people who like easy and silly books.

I say it is a good book for kids almost, but not quite, ready for Junie B Jones. Series.

[Sonya Bright]

This was a funny little instalment in the series.

Dealing with another common childhood theme - haircuts on dolls and sometimes on people, too - Billie's predicament(s) got a few smiles out of me.

And a doll named Stinky!

Each book has a conflict between Billie and her best friend Jack, but friendship always wins out in the end. The books all send a good message without preaching about it.

[Calista]

Number six in the Billy B Brown series by Australian author Sally Rippin, 'The Beautiful Haircut' follows Billie as she becomes a hairdresser.

Billie does a good job making her dolls' hair looks good, but can she do an equally good job on her own hair?

[Zanni Louise]

Billie is very popular in our house, no matter what age she is. This book, and others in the series are so relatable, and loveable.

[Megan]

I liked it, just I didn't like the part where she cuts off her pigtails as much as I thought I would. The end was pretty decent.

[Sam]

Read this out loud with my five year old girl. She enjoyed the story and simple illustrations. It was simple enough to finish in one sitting! We will be reading more Billie B. Brown!

[jennifer]

A good book is good and I like this book.

[sophandherbooks]

For the nth time

[atty]

I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE CUT HER PIGTAIL, THAT'S CRAZYYYYY

[Vanessa]

Billie is good at making her dolls hair look pretty with hair clips to cover their misadventures for her hairdresser game but when she gets bored and introduces her plastic purple scissors hmmmm?...

[Pam]

Rippin captures the exact actions of so many children when Billie cuts her pigtails off. She learns a hard lesson. Fortunately, her mom helps by having a professional fix her hair.

[Fiza Ali]

Hair cut

[Andy Hickman]

5-Sally Rippin, “Billie B Brown: The Beautiful Haircut” (​​Prahran, Victoria, Aust: Hardie Grant Egmont, 2010).
“Oh yes, they (scissors) are very sharp. Billie's pigtail falls into the sink! It lies there looking like a little furry mouse.” (p26)

The 'Billie B Brown' series by Australian author Sally Rippin is a wonderful set of books helping young kids acknowledge and deal with their range of emotions that arise from various childhood predicaments. These books reinforce the positive outcome of good decision making.

[Liz]

The Billie B Brown books are great for first chapter readers. These are especially nice because they were written with an eye to help children with dyslexia. There are no hyphenated words from page to page, and the font and page color also help reading.

[River (Caitlyn)]

Reminds me of the days when I used to give my dolls haircuts - living the illusion that their hair would grow back. It's a cute little chapter book, and perfect for kids moving from picture flats to their first chapter book.