Hair Love
Bibliography
Cherry, M.A. (2019). HAIR LOVE. Ill. by Vashti Harrison. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN 9780525553366
Plot Summary
Everytime Zuri styles her hair a certain way, she is excited to pretend to be an extraordinary character. She pretends to be princess, superhero and a magician. She loves her hair because it makes her unique. Zuri wants to get ready for a special day and tries to find ways to style her hair. Rocky her cat didn’t allow it and then daddy tried different ways to style it. Zuri was not happy with the styles, until she and daddy watched a to-do video. Finally, she was ready to welcome her mother.
Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)
HAIR LOVE is a realistic fiction book that includes the literary elements of plot. The literary elements include the characters, setting, conflict and resolution. The characters in the story are Zuri, Rocky (cat), daddy and mommy. The entire story takes place in Zuri’s house. The conflict in the story is the urgency of having her hair done to welcome her mother. The resolution takes on many ways, first she tries to style her hair on her own. Then her dad tries to style her hair. Until they were able to watch the video, they were able to resolve the problem.
Some of the cultural makers that were depicted in the colorful illustrations were Zuri and daddy’s skin tone. The illustrator does a great job in depicting the characters as African-American. Another cultural marker in the illustrations was the hair texture and hairstyles. Because the story is written in first person, Zuri describes her hair as “kinks, coils, and curls every which way” and “In funky braids with beads” and “my hair is in two puffs”. The illustrations also show the dad’s hair being in dreadlocks, which celebrate the African-American culture.
The gender roles are also illustrated in the pictures and actions of Zuri’s dad. For example, dad takes on the role of hairstyling Zuri’s hair because mom is not in the house. Because of the texture of her hair, they both have a hard time knowing how to tame her hair. Until they are able to watch the video that mom had made on how to style Zuri’s hair. The reader can then conclude that the mother is a hair stylist.
Overall the picture book offers a glimpse into the life of an African-American family and how different body features make everyone unique. The theme associated with this story is family love and being unique.
Review Experts
Kirkus Review: Positively refreshing. (Picture book. 4-9)
Connections
New York Times short film: 'Hair Love': 3 Men and a Little Girl (With a Lot of Curls)
Teachers, parents and librarians can conduct a read aloud with this book and conduct a discussion on what body features make the learners unique.
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