Bad Brows

Bernard—like presumably many readers—has not thought much about his eyebrows. But that changes one day when he wakes up with a set of eyebrows that cause him all kinds of problems. They make him look angry when he’s content, confused when he understands, and completely ridiculous for his school pictures. They hide from the barber when Bernard goes in for a trim, but afterward they progress from mischievous to malicious, knocking the ice cream scoops off his family’s cones at the local fair and—disgustingly—plunging themselves into Bernard’s toilet while he brushes his teeth. Just when Bernard is ready to lose hope, his own eyebrows return from vacation, and Bernard cheesily promises them that “from now on, you’ll always be on my mind.” Eaton concocts a clever tale from the everyday by personifying eyebrows, while Petrik truly gives life to the absurd tale with his hyperbolic brows. Readers will enjoy seeing Bernard’s changing expressions, which continue all the way through the endpapers. Bad Brows is an original, entertaining offering that succeeds because of Petrik’s outlandish design of the eyebrows and Eaton’s delivery of witty moments, including a surprise ending when both the origin of the bad brows and their next victim are revealed.