Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron: A Children's Story

A decade before Don Imus broke the unwritten rules of accepted speech and the Rutgers University Women's basketball team incurred the shock jock's rants, Uncle Mordecai was actually celebrating "nappy" hair.

"Nappy Hair" is a seed, if sown early enough in life, which can grow to deflect hurtful insults on an impressionable soul and cultivate self-love and self-appreciation in a society where the cookie cutter image is the dominant image.

Carolivia Herron has skillfully taken what was, and in some cases still is, widely perceived as aesthetically ugly or undesirable - nappy or kinky hair- and made it beautiful and acceptable by attaching a young, innocent, and adorable face to it. Illustrator Joe Cepeda cleverly captured Herron's words both in color and in form. Any little girl can immediately identify with the main character, Brenda, in her green and yellow dress and black and white sneakers playing in the backyard.

Herron's semi autobiographical "Nappy Hair" finds a family lightheartedly poking fun at young Brenda for her curly locs at a family picnic. Uncle Mordecai, family patriarch, chronicles just how nappy Brenda's hair really is; by nappy he doesn't only address texture, but also its history, its strength and its beauty.

His focus is not merely on young Brenda's nappy hair, but on Brenda herself with lines like, "Ain't she something? A rose among a thousand thorns." His celebration of his niece as her school's brightest star as well as one of God's most precious treasures paints a picture of what childrearing is supposed to be - purely positive.

Written in a traditional call and response form, "Nappy Hair" constructs a unique and playful dialogue in just over 15 pages. For kids, it is an enjoyable and colorful read; for parents, relatives and caregivers, it is a helpful tool to validate the natural beauty that is present in us all.

In a world where straight hair, bony facial features, light skin and skeletal frames are still the standard of Western splendor, "Nappy Hair" highlights a different and equally attractive image that children can be comfortable with and proud of.

Perhaps some of the young Rutgers basketball players were exposed to "Nappy Hair" in their formative years; that would explain the grace with which they handled the unwarranted verbal attacks by Don Imus.

"Nappy Hair" is a children's book that adults can appreciate. It deals with a sometimes sensitive topic in a whimsical fashion. Expect to come away delighted by the illustration and touched by the dialogue.