Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron

Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron (Ages 8-10)

Herron, Carolivia. (1998). Nappy Hair. New York: Dragonfly Book Publishing.

Genre: Fiction

Lexile: AD200L

Nappy Hair is a book about a young girl who is proud of her nappy hair, no matter what others say. Our culture has put a large emphasis on looks and beauty, especially in young girls. This book is about showcasing African Americans nappy hair, and showing readers that nappy hair is beautiful. This is a unique book in that it also portrays an important form of communication that is popular among African Americans, a call and response book. The book has several characters that are involved including the girls: father, uncle, god, and other family members. Throughout the book we can see interactions with the family by way of call and response- making this a fun read aloud with groups of students or children.

This book portrays social development well for the age group 8-10. Around this age characteristics begin to show that children begin to be influenced by their peer groups and they begin to show others points of view and their reasoning. This book shows children that no matter who they hang out with and what those people say about nappy hair doesn’t mean that they have to believe it. It shows African American children that their nappy hair is beautiful. This book also helps children begin to grow in personality development as well. Middle age children begin to feel a sense of productivity and accomplishment. This book allows young girls to understand that their hair doesn’t have to be a negative part of their life or a hassle. This will improve the child’s sense of worth an important part of their personality development.

Characterization- The way that the young girl is portrayed makes her an important main character. She is portrayed as a happy, spunky girl that is proud of her hair. The way that she is characterized helps readers understand that she is proud of her nappy hair.

Style- Carolivia has given her story a style unlike many children’s books; she used a call and response style. This helps the readers to learn not just about being proud of nappy hair but also to learn a little about the African American culture and a way of communication that is important to their culture. The language helps to bring the story to life, which is an important aspect to literary elements. 

Theme- The theme in Nappy Hair allows children who have nappy hair, or know others with nappy hair, to identify with the story and become involved with the girl in the books story. This theme of self-understanding is carried throughout the book and allows children to see that being different that the social norm is okay.

The illustrations throughout the book are larger than life. You can tell from the cover of the book, just the girls head with her hair piled on top. The hair is huge and the girls face is cheerful. The illustrations throughout the book portray proudness and excitement over her hair. 

Mini Lesson- Style plays an important role in Author Herron’s book. This book would be good to incorporate when learning about writing and how different authors write in different ways. By pairing this book with another different “style” book and doing read aloud, then asking the students to write their own story using either a style they learned about in class or one of their own. This gives the students an opportunity to discover their own style of writing and to experiment with other author’s style and how they can incorporate it into their own styles.

*Give the students a blank book and ask them to write their own call and response book on something that is important to them. After the students are done writing their books ask if anyone would like to share their books with the class.

Enjoyment- Readers from around age 8-10 would find this book appropriate for their reading level. The book also focuses on African American culture specifically regarding their nappy hair- so it could also be used to help self-confidence in children with nappy hair, or to teach others about something they are unfamiliar with.