Carolivia Herron

I really enjoyed reading this book for many reasons. First, the writing and dialogue of this book is very entertaining and engaging for the reader. The back and forth nature of this writing brings a lot of voice to the book, as Uncle Mordecai tells the story of the nappy-haired girl, other family members chime in reinforcing his statements. For example, Mordecai said, "God wanted hisself some nappy hair upon the face of the earth" and the family said, "That's what it was." This type of show more writing encourages the reader to use different voices even when reading silently. Another really great aspect of this book is the inclusion of important cultural history. Herron goes back to the child's ancestors in Africa coming to America to describe the significance and history of her nappy hair. For example, when the rest of the family were being sold as slaves, the nappy-haired child, "come riding express, coming on across the ocean from Africa, wouldn't stop for nothing." This book encourages readers to understand and appreciate everyone's individuality and differences and let them strengthen us. This child's hair was surly ridiculed by others, but she knows that her hair was hand-crafted by God so she wears it proudly. show less

In my opinion, this is an AMAZING book! The author has such a strong voice and I love how the author embraces African American culture. In addition, Herron also uses a lot of African-American English (AAE), which makes the text feel authentic and real. For instance, she writes,“Them some willful intentional naps you / got all over your head. / Sure enough. / Your hair intended to be nappy. / Indeed it did.” This quote among many others, shows her unique voice and offers a sense of show more rhythm. Another thing that I really liked was how she challenged the views of many and embraced her culture, stating that nappy hair is a distinct feature of African Americans, and she writes with a sense of pride that shows throughout her writing. Moreover, the illustrations in the book also supported the language and voice and it helps to promote African American culture and pride. I think this would be a great book to include in a classroom collection and it allows students to embrace their individuality and all of their unique features. show less

Maurice Holmes
Professor
EDUC 417
9/5/2019
Reading Log #1
Title: Nappy Hair
Author: Carolivia Herron
Copyright Date: 1997
Illustrator: Joe Cepeda
Tags: This book represents African Americans and all people of color. Talking about physical aspects of people of color and how you should be proud, not ashamed of your appearance.
Collections: This is a Poetry book as described by the author. I believe it is a book that could suit students from 3rd all the way through about 6th grade.
I give this book 3.7 show more out of 5 stars. At first it seemed like the book was all about making fun of this little girl and her hair. But towards the end it began to present the real message of the book while providing great representation for different ethnic groups which I enjoyed. I think it would have been cool if they added more context to the girl, maybe even given her a name just to add that extra sense of reliability maybe, just instead of saying “she” or “the sweet little girl”.

I think that this was an overall good book, especially one that you can read to students. The illustration was big, bold, and colorful which I thought was great because it caught your attention but it wasn’t so busy that is was distracting me from the actual story.
The big idea of the story is talking about self-esteem and accepting yourself. It starts with the girl’s uncle making fun of her hair, saying how nappy it is, how it sounds when it’s combed and things such as that. Then the story shifts, talking about how great her hair is and how God had made her hair just like that or a reason, and how it may have been almost a sense of relief that God could make such a beautiful child with such nappy hair. The story also talk about how blacks have always had hair like this. How even when people came over, forcing blacks into slavery and as the story puts it, sold your mom for a buffalo and your father for a dime. I believe things like this are metaphors, saying although tough times may arise and you may not see the end of the tunnel, but staying true to yourself and doing what you can to rise out of the situation is something that always most remain the same. I believe that is an incredible message and having students read that would only uplift them, further pushing them to be their best.
This book is good to me because it has a real message behind it. Not only mentioning the atrocities of slavery which I think was very unexpected but interesting, but it talks about self-care/love. No, it is not the most educational book, but I do think that you can learn a thing or two from it. show less

I had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the characters, especially Uncle Mordecai, the narrator of the story. He speaks so vibrantly and excitedly about his niece's hair, "it ain't easy to come by that kind of hair. You just can't blame Africa. It's willful." Throughout the story he goes on to talk about how her hair ties her to her African ancestors and why that means so much. I thought this was a very believable character as it reminds me of my granddad speaking of my family's show more tendency to start graying early and reminding all of us that all of our relatives were silver foxes. I did not like the writing of the story as much, the organization was kind of confusing and took me a couple of reads to understand. Uncle Mordecai speaks a line and then the family responds, but it's not entirely a conversation. It's more of a comment on what the Uncle has said but he never responds to their comments, he just continues with what he is saying. I just found this confusing. I believe the main idea of this story is to love and accept your body/appearance because it creates a detailed history of who you are and of who your family is, even when people don't understand the significance and beauty behind it. show less