Gift Ideas: The Best Kids Books About Black Hair Love
Our new faves + HOW to read with kids
Hi,
Tabitha and Adam here. If you’ve ever taken one of our workshops, you know that we’re really into books as a tool for teaching and modeling antiracism with little ones. Today, we’re delving into HOW to use them, incorporating a tool that changed our way of reading to our kids and sharing what’s on our bookshelf for parents who want to instill hair love in our little Black kids.
In today’s newsletter:
Reflective Media
How to read with our kids
On Our Bookshelf
Let’s get into it, shall we?
Reflective Media
One of our core Building Blocks of Antiracist ParentingTM is Reflective Media. Reflective Media includes books, movies, toys, television shows, etc. that reflect the multiracial, multi-identity world we live in. People who incorporate antiracist parenting into their daily practices may find it useful to fuse lessons on antiracism, peace and justice into modes of entertainment. We highly recommend injecting fun into these lessons because isn’t joy the point of it all?
It also needs to be said really loud and really clear that we cannot read our way out of oppressive practices and racism.
Books alone won’t do the job. Books are simply ONE tool on this parenting journey. So yes, read the antiracist books with your kids and read them often. AND be sure to seek out opportunities all around you to infuse the lessons in these books into daily life while doing the internal work needed to truly dismantle racism.
Now let’s chat for a second about HOW to read these books with your kiddos.
Tabitha here: I’m a wee bit obsessed with this powerful tool that I learned from AORTA (anti-oppression resource and training alliance). We use this tool to deepen the practice of reading with our children, and it's pretty simple on the face of it— just incorporate these three guiding questions:
“What do you observe/see?”
“What do you feel?”
“What do you think?”
With our 5-year-old, the conversation usually centers around what she sees and observes and that usually leads to some interesting observations. Asking our 9-year-old what he thinks about certain topics in books lands us in very powerful conversations about justice and equity.
Now, as a reminder, it’s totally ok if, for younger kids, you read a page a day with these questions as a guide. Remember, the goal is the lesson, not completion.
On Our Bookshelf:
These books may not necessarily be new but they’re new to our bookshelf as we continue our journey of self-love for our little Black multiracial girl. Both a celebration of Black hair and an acknowledgement of its possible complexities for some, the following delight our daughter.
My Beads and Me, by Amber T. Bogan
Our daughter LOVES braids and beads. This fantastical book brings together imagination and self love for little Black girls like her who love a fancy hairdo with beads. There’s an option to “bundle” this book with the accompanying coloring book, which our daughter immediately jumped into.
If you’ve been following us for a while, you probably noticed that we focus A LOT on Black hair love. Our daughter, like many Black girls who are trying to exist as their full selves, has had a sometimes beautiful, sometimes bumpy relationship with her hair. So we spend tons of time helping her find joy and delight in different hairstyles. This kids book focuses on a mama and a young girl as they work through some bumps in the little girl’s relationship with her beautiful locks.
NEW RELEASE! Wash Day Love by Tanisia Moore
This book combines vibrant imagery with a relatable story that many Black children can identify with. Wash day, a necessary part of Black culture, gets a frank perspective coupled with a shift in mindset that is a good model for all of us.
That’s it from us for today. Remember to love up on the kids in your life, okay? Wishing you only the things that bring you peace, joy and growth.
Tabitha & Adam