A Hairy Tale (Kiwi Bites series)

 Books

Vince is a reporter on the school magazine, not a superhero. But he has plenty of hair-brained dreams. He wants to get an interview with Ramona Punzel, the coolest and youngest hair model in the whole world, but she’s living in the tallest hotel building in Auckland, with no elevator. The only way in is by helicopter … or is it? Vince has a crazy idea. Little does he know, Ramona has a few crazy ideas of her own. The twists and turns in this very twisted fairy tale will keep you constantly guessing what’s coming next.

This book is in the Kiwi Bites series, which is a collection of modern, quirky stories for 7-10 year olds.


Author's Comments

This story emerged through playing around with three things. The character Ramona came from my school friend Dinah, who had hair that was so long and heavy that it nearly dragged her backwards over a swimming pool waterfall. We had to pull her back by her legs. My brother Mike is a paragliding instructor in Wales. He has told me a lot of hairy tales about how weather and buildings affect the lift of a paraglider, so I was able to use this information with my invincible Vince character. Ramona’s parents are in Africa studying gorillas. My own dad went to Africa to study insects. It’s not quite the same, but I’ve always loved gorillas, so I played around with the facts a bit.

I love the humour in twisted fairy tales, and all of these elements blended together beautifully into a modern, quirky story.


Reading Activity
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Find out about weather patterns, heat and thermals, so that you understand everything you need to know before flying with a paraglider. And I don’t mean the sort of polypropylene thermals that you wear when you go tramping in winter!
•  

Can you think of another adventure for Vince the Invincible? I can see him getting into all sorts of trouble in the future.
•  

Or perhaps you could transform another fairy tale into an extreme sports adventure. Play around with some of the possibilities until you come up with something you like.
•  

Read the newspaper headlines about Mordolla near the end of the story. Can you write your own 'hairy tale' about this?
•   Read more tall tales or funny books where there's a great twist and happy ending. Try some of my favourite picture books like Doctor de Soto, or Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo which both have fabulous poetry and feisty characters you never want to forget. Alternatively try one of these books, which are hilarious but also have memorable messages.

Officer Buckle and Gloria Hooway for Wodney Wat The Whisperer
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A Hairy Tale A Hairy Tale (Kiwi Bites)
Illustrated by Fraser Williamson
Penguin NZ, 2004
ISBN 0-14-331817-9
RRP $14.99

 
Review Extracts
 
"A Hairy Tale is a funny, contemporary take on the Rapunzel fairy tale. It has goodies and baddies, heroes and heroines, and dramatic hair-raising rescue attempts, all leading up to the twist in the tale at the end. It's told with great humour, which is really important to keep your children hooked at this age, and would appeal to boys and girls alike. Snappy illustrations increase the lively buzz of this tale - guaranteed enjoyment."
From Home Grown TV, September 2004