Noah, who has brown skin, is not shy about dropping “subtle hints” regarding what he’d like for his upcoming birthday. He has plenty of ideas. But he doesn’t ask for the thing he secretly wants most of all: long hair that he can toss expressively and style. Everywhere he looks, boys and men have short hair (or no hair!), and Noah knows that some people can be unkind to boys with long hair. After his birthday haircut—“the usual”—he starts to cry. To cheer himself up, he wears a t-shirt around his head like a wig. When his big day arrives, Noah is delighted to receive several of the gifts he asked for. The best gift, however, is a surprise: a long, flowing, “magnificent” wig from his parents. “‘I’m gorgeous!’ he declared,” admiring himself in the mirror. And when Noah’s birthday comes around the next year, all he needs is “a little off the ends” of his now shoulder-length hair. A gently humorous, feel-good story that celebrates self-expression and family acceptance ends with a few “conversation starters” about acceptance of self and others regardless of personal style or expression. (Ages 4-9)