Vision of Beauty: The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker

Vision of Beauty is a beautifully illustrated book that covers a complex range of topics. I would feel comfortable reading this book to children from the age of 3 on up, boys and girls. The story is rooted in the point in time when the Civil war ends and where Reconstruction begins. It then goes into a wonderfully American story about hard work and Mme. Walker’s belief that successful people ought to do what they can to uplift and inspire their fellow man and woman. The author begins with a note explaining that she uses the word “colored”. I appreciated this note. You may feel it is necessary to start a dialog about acceptable an unacceptable words. Another theme in the story is hair. In the African American community “good hair” and “bad hair” are often used to talk about degrees of curliness, softer being “better”. Care is taken throughout the book to disassociate these terms. Mme. Walker did not approve of this characterization of black women having “bad hair”. She wanted all of us women to have healthy hair, be it curly or straight. The controversial nature of this topic even warrants a note from the illustrator on the final page. Nneka Bennett states her personal beliefs that, “Whether a woman straightens her hair or not, her beauty radiates from within.” Adding, “I prefer to see women wear heir hair in its healthiest form—naturally kinky, as I do.” ( )

This is a ture story about Sarah Breedlove Walker, who was a slave and had a fairly rough life. She worked so hard and was so malnurished that her hair was short and brittle. She hated this very much and one day she came up with the idea to make her own hair products using ingredients from Africa, her homeland. She eventually opened up her own business where she not only made the most money a black woman could make back in that day, but wanted to shared and make black people proud of their type of hair in comparision to white people's hair. She was a rich, influential, black woman that wanted to inspire black people to rise above whatever situation they were in and be proud of who you are. ( )

This book takes you on a journey begging in Louisiana in the 1870's and ending in 1918. It is the story of Madam C J Walker and its great because its starts from a child's perspective and end with a grown African American woman who built an empire by mixing products to improve the state of African American hair. This is a great story of all sorts of demographics for children , girls, African American Children or any child. Its a great journey and its speaks frankly of the state of America and of beauty in the US at the time of Madam's C. J. Walker's life. She is the protagonist of the book and the students will learn a lout of details about the state of life for African Americans and Women at the times of the late 1800s to the early 1900's. This was a great read. I want to know more about Madam C.J. Walker. ( )

Genre- Informational
A good example of informational because it tells the life and accomplishments of Sarah walker.
Media-pencil and watercolor

Genre: Biography
Media: pastels
Characterization: Sarah is a round and dynamic character. From the beginning of the book we see how Sarah develops and becomes an influential woman for black rights. She moves from having no hope to being a successful and powerful woman. She is introduced to us a young girl, yet we know what culture she comes from and what her ideals are.
Review: This is a great biography for kids to read. It includes details about Sarah's live, yet it makes them interesting and inspiring for young readers. It brings up important racial issues that kids will have to think about, but it does this in a non-aggressive method. It basically tells the story of Sarah's life, her struggles and her triumphs, therefore it is informative as well as interesting.