I Love My Hair!

I Love My Hair! 

Author: Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

 Illustrator: E. B. Lewis.

Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers

Copyright Date: 2001

            This is the story of a young Black American girl by the name of Keyana. At the beginning this story, she struggles with her hair while her mother combs it, but her mother tells her why she should be proud of her beautiful hair. I love how this book encourages young Black American females to be proud of the hair God gave them. It subtly refers to heritage, creativity, and self expression.

            The illustrations are done in mostly water colors and pen. The texture is very soft. The illustrations are very detail driven to focus on realism. The illustrator makes good use of perspective and proportions to direct reader focus and to draw attention. The lines are very smooth and curved. The colors in the book are very organic earthy colors of browns, blues, and greens. This was probably done to make focus to the worldly connectedness of the heritage of Keyana.

            This book could be appropriate for all ages in school. You could use this book as a writing prompt for something about your family’s heritage or your body that you’re proud of. You could provide this book to a Black American student who struggles with poor self image when it comes to her hair. I liked this book’s potential to instill pride within girls who are told by the media that they have to change to look different than their own culture.

(Special Note: Chris Rock did a documentary on Black American women’s hair called Good Hair.It goes deeper into the issues that these women face.)