(Photo by Nancy Ellen Row Rawley)

Sunday evening kids’ book review from your friend, Wacky Mommy:

“Curls” (Little Simon, 2020, written by Ruth Forman, illustrated by Geneva Bowers,  all ages, $8.99). What do you do when your little one, your beloved child, comes home from preschool wanting different hair and skin?

“I knew she might have to face these pressures at some point,” Ruth Forman has said, “but I didn’t realize it could happen so soon, at age 3 and 4.”

She points out that these are critical development years. They are. What other people tell us that first 10 years, especially, can impact how we look at ourselves for the next 80. What did Forman do about it? She wrote a sweet, rhyming, beautifully-illustrated board book (kudos to Geneva Bowers for the art) in response. This book is about so much more than hair, skin, babies, and little children getting pressure to be something that they’re not

Racism is alive and kicking in America and in the world. Forget that noise, we are way past due for change. This powerful little book is a start.

“shine big

hair love”

Forever. 

“Glow,” a companion book celebrating the joy and power of African-American boys, is the second release from Forman and Bowers. It, too, is an incredible little board book. 

“I shine night too

smooth brown

glow skin”

Both of these books belong in every nursery, every classroom, every doctor’s and dentist’s waiting room. Just as a reminder of Black joy, Black children, and ethnic representation.

Have a lovely week, everyone. 

WM