Nappy Hair

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 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. show more 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

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 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 show more 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

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 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 show more 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

A story about a girl's nappy hair, how it might have come to be, and why it is something to be proud of. It has modern folktale vibes. Great for K-4th graders. Beautiful illustrations.

Describing how a young girl's hair became so nappy, Nappy hair is told by a loved family member. The tone is affectionate as he uses cute metaphors on each page to talk about his niece. I found the story to be quite choppy, I understood what the author was doing with short sentences and responses in between but I really found it distasteful. A story wasn't really being told and the use of 'chile' instead of 'child' really hit the racial bell for me. The cover of the book was already controversial in my opinion, it is a really dark girl with an extreme afro. I'm very familiar with the self esteem of young black girls and I believe this book would have negative impact on them. At a young age. girls don't want their hair described as show more nappy, it's a negative word, EVEN within the black community. I would know I'm a natural girl myself and I'm always asked Why I like nappy hair. And maybe the author is trying to put a positive spin on that word but I believe she targeted the wrong age group. I would never read this book to my class. show less

Nappy Hair is a great multicultural children’s book. Herron emphasizes the importance of cultural identity and how one should fall in love with themselves and their personal identity. Nappy Hair shows how a community can come together to love who they are and support each other when times are tough. This book through the call and response dialect puts emphasis on how strong a person can be when they believe in their personal self and identity. This book does a great job of showcasing love, strength and identity. It allows children to find themselves in a time they may feel lost or alone with their identity. Carolivia Herron shows a sense of unity between people, communities, and ancestors.

This was an extremely cute book and I absolutely loved it. I loved the message it gives for young girls of color about loving their natural hair because they don't hear enough appreciation for their hair the way it naturally is. I also thought the rhythm of this book was really fun and it was a super easy read.