I grew up in suburbia—or urban sprawl—with fairytales and children’s nonfiction series like Lands and Peoples. My passion for reading (and history and art museums) nurtured my sense of wonder and awe at the richness of the world. I was inspired to write nonfiction about heroic people by my own children, whose social studies education lacked dazzle and examples of heroism. I had already been creating educational materials for schools, but I wanted to inspire their wonder about and appreciation of the world. My kids are grown, but I’m still writing for young readers. An avid world traveler and historian, I've always aspired to bring other people, places, cultures, and times to life.
I love this book for its wacky humor, its kindness, and its great illustrations.
The sleepy dad’s hair sticking up always makes me smile. Not to mention the bear trying to hide under the bed, which is smaller than he is. And I love its gentle sympathy for the clumsily helpful child and the suffering and then grateful bear.
As a Sr. Mechanical Engineer, STEM advocate, TEDx international speaker and international best-selling author of children's books, I have a deep expertise and passion for inspiring young minds in the world of science, technology, engineering, and math. Through my books, including What Can I Be? STEM Careers from A to Z and the STEM Crew Kids Adventures series, I aim to introduce kids to diverse STEM careers and empower them to pursue their dreams fearlessly. My background in engineering and dedication to youth mentorship drives me to promote STEM education and underrepresented voices. I believe in the power of books to spark curiosity and open doors to endless possibilities for future innovators and problem-solvers.
Ask Uncle Neil: Why is my hair curly? is an empowering and motivational book that introduces young readers to the wonders of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM).
Anthony, the curious protagonist, explores the science behind his curly hair with the help of his Uncle Neil. Written by engineer Neil Thompson, the book encourages children of all races to embrace their curiosity and consider careers in STEM fields.
It instills the belief that with determination, there are no limits to what they can achieve. This inspiring book is a must-have for young minds eager to embark on a journey of discovery and possibility in the world of STEAM.
If an empowering book for young children is what you are looking for, you have found it in the book Ask Uncle Neil: why is my hair curly?
With this book, you will meet Anthony, a young boy who has his mother, Jessica, exasperated, as they are running late. While getting ready, Anthony starts to wonder why his hair is different than that of his classmates. From there, Anthony speaks with his Uncle Neil, who uses science to answer Anthony’s question.
Using hair as the vehicle, “Ask Uncle Neil: why is my hair curly?” encourages children to explore careers in…
In my kidlit writing, I am someone who almost exclusively writes more difficult topics, grounded in reality. My debut deals with the police-sanctioned murder of Black people. My second book deals with mental illness and how to bounce back from sad days in a way that’s accessible to young people. I thoroughly enjoy reading and writing more thoughtful picture books with much to say about our greater world.
Hair Love is a heartwarming and gentle book about a little girl named Zuri and her father struggling to do her hair. It is filled with an abundance of humorous and joyful moments, but where the book really shines for me is in its unabashed celebration of Zuri’s hair. In a country where Black femmes are constantly being labeled as less-than, the importance of this book cannot be overstated.
4
authors picked
Hair Love
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
5,
6, and
7.
What is this book about?
Based on the Oscar winning short film!
It's up to Daddy to give his daughter an extra-special hair style in this story of self-confidence and the love between fathers and daughters.
Zuri knows her hair is beautiful, but it has a mind of its own!
It kinks, coils, and curls every which way. Mum always does Zuri's hair just the way she likes it - so when Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn.
But he LOVES his Zuri, and he'll do anything to make her - and her hair…
Throughout my journey, I’ve had to endure many challenges coming from humble beginnings so I wrote my book based on my experiences of being the 1st generational college graduate to overcoming many obstacles that affected my self-esteem while running a multimillion-dollar branch in the banking industry. Writing My Broken Stiletto allowed me to showcase that being resilient is a mindset that can be challenging but worth the reward when you get out of your own way.
As a black woman who has had to explain my hair texture, color, and why my hair does what it does has affected my self-esteem at times. This process was simplified with the help of Curly Nikki’s, Better Than Good Hair which is a must-read.
It doesn’t matter if you struggle with kinky, coiled, or straight having a hair problem can be problematic. This book has changed my life in the sense of how I show up in my truth. If you have ever second-guessed yourself or are in a pinch and unsure what to do with your hair, products, or styling this is your book to grab.
Curly Nikki has changed the game on how women are seen in corporate and not only that hair is an extension of our outfits but tied to our souls. Therefore, it is super important to protect your hair piece and your…
A revolution is sweeping through the homes, offices, and salons of black American women. Relaxers are out. Weaves are so yesterday. Tired of the expense and damage of chemical treatments and artificial enhancers, women of color are going natural thanks to Nikki Walton of CurlyNikki.com, the natural hair blogger and expert on online hair therapy. In "Better Than Good Hair", this gifted curl whisperer educates women on how to transition from relaxed to completely natural hair, with advice and styles for every length, from fierce braid-n-curls to fancy faux buns. She also counsels those considering the big chop-cutting it all…
I know first hand the damage that bullying can have on children, It weighs heavy on your psyche, and emotional well-being. I was determined to find a way to teach children important values to fight the root causes of bullying. I found an old "sketch" and it was my "aha" moment. With continued tweaking, my bubbly hippo was born that I named Bentley.
Sporting his red running shoes, Bentley has become a positive role model for children. He represents resilience, friendship, joy, and kindness. We all grew up hugging a teddy bear, but now it's time for the World to Hug a Hippo. The books I've picked below inspire me and will help kids learn the value of kindness.
This is a wonderful story about self-confidence, self-esteem, and being kind to ourselves.
It is easy to want what others have and oftentimes comparing ourselves brings about negative emotions.
This story teaches us to embrace our differences and accept ourselves as we are.
Johanita is a young girl of African descent who does not like her hair. She has short, tight, kinky curls but wants hair like other girls at school because she believes it will make her more beautiful.
When she goes to the mall with her mother one day, Johanita discovers a salon full of wigs. She proceeds to try on different wigs and wears one to school each day to match with her 'twin'. After a new girl starts school, Johanita discovers that beauty comes in many forms and it isn't your hair that makes you beautiful. 'Hair Peace' was…
As a former teacher, and grandmother of 13 now-grownup kids, I can’t begin to count the total number of children’s books I’ve read. A gazillion maybe? I have published 5 children’s books of my own and have read them to hundreds of classes all over the U.S. I have been an editor of children’s books for about 10 years and feel honored every time an author hands their precious manuscript over to me for assistance. I’ve read so, so many amazing books. It was difficult to name just a handful, but these books spoke to me, evoking emotions that stayed with me long after the last i was dotted and t was crossed. I hope you will feel that as well.
I have always believed that in a perfect children’s book, young readers are able to identify with the characters, perhaps even visualizing themselves in the story. This book goes above and beyond this belief. The main character has curly hair but, like most girls, thinks the grass is greener (or the hair is straighter) on all of the other girls. As Claire struggles to accept her big, unruly, curly hair, she embarks on a journey to find ways to change it. With the story’s charming illustrations and delightful rhyming text, this is a sweet story of acceptance and inclusion. But what really sets this book apart from other books is that it is available in 4different versions! Readers can choose from African American Claire, Brunette Claire, Blonde Claire, or Redhead Claire! Wow!
As Claire struggles to accept her big, unruly, curly hair, she embarks on a journey of self-love and acceptance...and along the way discovers that she and her hair have ALWAYS been perfect.
Filled with empowerment and page after page of fun, adorable illustrations, this book will inspire and reinforce the beautiful and important lesson of loving who you are!
Check out ALL four versions of this book! Available in Brown Hair, Black Hair, Blonde Hair and Red Hair, so that your little girl can choose the book that looks just like her!
I grew up in a family of beautiful, accomplished women at a time when most women stayed home. But the spectacular women in my mother's family also suffered spectacularly, and I was determined to understand family life at its very roots. I studied anthropology and, over a 15-year period, lived in a remote part of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea among a group of Gimi women who spent most of their time apart from men. I shared women's difficult daily lives, participated in their separate rites, learned their myths, and, through my writing, have devoted myself to giving them voices of their own.
Given the general skepticism about Freud, it is hard to find a brilliant application of histheory of psychoanalysis in anthropology that also focuses on women.
This book about Hindu-Buddhist religious devotees at Kataragama in southeastern Sri Lanka includes detailed case studies of female ascetic-ecstatics that explore the symbolism of long locks of matted hair. Obeyesekere demonstrates that the conventional distinction between personal and cultural symbols is inadequate and naive.
The great pilgrimage center of southeastern Sri Lanka, Kataragama, has become in recent years the spiritual home of a new class of Hindu-Buddhist religious devotees. These ecstatic priests and priestesses invariably display long locks of matted hair, and they express their devotion to the gods through fire walking, tongue-piercing, hanging on hooks, and trance-induced prophesying.
The increasing popularity of these ecstatics poses a challenge not only to orthodox Sinhala Buddhism (the official religion of Sri Lanka) but also, as Gananath Obeyesekere shows, to the traditional anthropological and psychoanalytic theories of symbolism. Focusing initially on one symbol, matted hair, Obeyesekere demonstrates…
I’m an Afro-Caribbean-American filmmaker, photographer, author, and activist from Washington, DC. After graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in French and Francophone Studies, I began pursuing a completely different career path: social activism through art and storytelling.
I capture personal stories and intimate moments centering on Black liberation, immigrant justice, and women’s rights. My work is grounded in radical love, joy, and the knowledge that a more just world is possible. My award-winning documentary DACAmented has been internationally recognized, and my book My Beautiful Black Hair has been featured in The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and NPR’s Strange Fruit, among others.
Dabiri’s use of history and personal storytelling to deconstruct and illuminate the long story of Black hair is crucial in that it allows readers to understand that our Black hair has history. The movement against natural Black hair is rooted in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and our own structures of government have always backed the anti-blackness that criminalized, scapegoated, or invisibilized our hair; this book celebrates our natural hair but also serves as historical education, which is so important if we’re to see natural Black hair not as a stylish trend but as a necessary part of our liberation. Dabiri reminds us that, while our hair is so often used as a weapon against us, it also has the power to liberate us.
Stamped from the Beginning meets You Can't Touch My Hair in this timely and resonant essay collection from Guardian contributor and prominent BBC race correspondent Emma Dabiri, exploring the ways in which black hair has been appropriated and stigmatized throughout history, with ruminations on body politics, race, pop culture, and Dabiri’s own journey to loving her hair.
Emma Dabiri can tell you the first time she chemically straightened her hair. She can describe the smell, the atmosphere of the salon, and her mix of emotions when she saw her normally kinky tresses fall…
My interest and curiosity in this topic primarily came from life experience: not fitting in as a gangly Asian girl growing up in white suburbs and picked on for how I looked, working as a teen model in the late 1990s and early aughts, becoming a mother to three girls while opening up NPR’s first-ever bureau and living in Seoul, South Korea, the plastic surgery capital of the world. Ever since graduating from The University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Journalism, I’ve been a professional journalist. Most of my career has been as an NPR correspondent, but I’ve also worked as a reporter for VICE and appeared in The Atlantic, WIRED, Slate, and numerous other publications.
Oh my goodness, this is the most surprisingly fascinating book I’ve ever picked up, because I originally thought, how much could there be to learn about body hair removal? Well, the answer is, a lot.
It is ostensibly all about the history of body hair and body hair removal, but really it’s about abuse, freedom, and bodily autonomy and so many other sweeping topics. It’s funny, it’s fast-paced, it’s full of tidbits I continue to share with friends at cocktail parties.
Without giving too much away, I will say that as we move into an era in scientific innovation where it’s easier than ever before to genetically modify ourselves and other creatures, Herzig’s book is so evergreen and relevant.
Uncovers the history of hair removal practices and sheds light on the prolific culture of beauty
From the clamshell razors and homemade lye depilatories used in colonial America to the diode lasers and prescription pharmaceuticals available today, Americans have used a staggering array of tools to remove hair deemed unsightly, unnatural, or excessive. This is true especially for women and girls; conservative estimates indicate that 99% of American women have tried hair removal, and at least 85% regularly remove hair from their faces, armpits, legs, and bikini lines. How and when does hair become a problem-what makes some growth "excessive"?…
I’m an Afro-Caribbean-American filmmaker, photographer, author, and activist from Washington, DC. After graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in French and Francophone Studies, I began pursuing a completely different career path: social activism through art and storytelling.
I capture personal stories and intimate moments centering on Black liberation, immigrant justice, and women’s rights. My work is grounded in radical love, joy, and the knowledge that a more just world is possible. My award-winning documentary DACAmented has been internationally recognized, and my book My Beautiful Black Hair has been featured in The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and NPR’s Strange Fruit, among others.
This is, to me, the “OG” of Black hair books in the last half-century. I discovered this book by accident a few years ago early one evening and ended up reading late into the night: page by page, Byrd and Tharps provide a first-rate history about natural Black hair. Learning about the hair customs of my ancestors before the onslaught of the Transatlantic Slave Trade made me proud of my curls and strengthened my resolve to continue their brilliant, necessary work on the roots of Black hair.
Two world wars, the Civil Rights movement, and a Jheri curl later, the issues surrounding Black hair in America continue to linger as we enter the twenty-first century. Tying the personal to the political and the popular, Hair Story takes a chronological look at the culture behind the ever-changing state of Black hair - from fifteenth-century Africa to the present-day United States. Hair Story is the book that Black Americans can use as a benchmark for tracing a unique aspect of their history. It is celebrated as a reference guide for understanding Black hair.
