I Love My Hair!

I Love My Hair is a wonderful, realistic fiction picture book written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and illustrated by E.B. Lewis about a little African American girl, Keyana and her learning self-acceptance. The story displays the challenges, triumphs and styles that Keyana's hair journey takes her on as her mother creates a positive platform for her daughter to feel comfortable with her hair!

The beautiful illustrations in this book display the creative hair styles that a lot of African American girls wear. It also sheds light on the process that most girls endure to keep their hair maintained. E.B. Lewis does an incredible job with painting the pictures accurately and to scale! Keyana is really a beautiful little girl.

I Love My Hair is appropriate for readers kindergarten through 2nd grade. Although, I believe this book is great for any age! As the reader scrolls through the pages, the beautiful colors, heartfelt emotions and the relationship between a mother and daughter grasp attention and demand respect of cultural differences in an elegant fashion.  

Motivational Activities

There is a wonderful song that gives little African American girls the chance to celebrate their hair! This song is an original Sesame Street production.

 

• Students will learn the song after hearing the story read aloud and will answer questions.

• What do you like best about the book? Are there any similarities between the characters in the book vs. the video? What makes your hair unique? 

• Students will also choose a classmate's name out of a hat and create their classmate's hairstyle (Boys will get to create haircuts with the male classmates after hearing a book by the same author Bippity Bop Barbershop). Students will draw faces on paper and use scissors to cut out hairstyles/haircuts made of construction paper and glue the strands of hair to the heads. They will then present their finished product. 

If you enjoyed this book, you may want to read others written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley including: Bippity Bop Barbershop, Destiny's Gift and The Princess and the Frog: Princess Tiana and the Royal Ball

References

Tarpley, N., & Lewis, E. (2001). I love my hair! Boston: Little, Brown.

Tarpley, N., & Lewis, E. (2009). Bippity bop barbershop. New York: Little, Brown &.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enpFde5rgmw