Nappy Hair

Nappy Hair

by Carolivia Herron

I honestly don't know how to feel about this book. I can see some great things about this story and some things that make me a little uncomfortable (whether rational reasons to feel so, I don't know). A creative, jingly story about a little black girl's very, VERY curly hair... this book is written in a call and response style, maybe a little too purposely representative of African American slave gospels. And very obvious use of stereotypical black vernacular English. It is meant to represent the pride that her family has in her "nappy hair," rather than shame, but I would feel more than a little judgmental, as a white woman, reading this book as representation of a black child. Really a great example of a song book and different genres of writing, the text does make me kind of bounce around in my seat! Mostly, I think I would value the opinion of some parents or teachers who are themselves of color before making the decision on whether or not to read this book aloud in my class, although, I see no problem offering it in my class library for kids to chose from.