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Coming September 16, 2025. Pre-order today!Black Hair CanThe Roots of Our RootsBy: Sylvia RodriguezBlack hair can be a crown.Black hair is the crown for the African diaspora worldwide and a strong symbol of identity and beauty in a variety of communities.
By: Sylvia Rodriguez
Black hair is the crown for the African diaspora worldwide and a strong symbol of identity and beauty in a variety of communities. It’s a source of pride and expression, and from the times of kings and queens has demonstrated a person’s life’s journey.
Yet as enslaved people, Black people had their hair taken from them as a way to remove their humanity. As African Americans struggled through history, their hair became a major source of resiliency and a way to take back their power.
Black Hair Can embraces the expansive history of Black hair and why people should proudly show off their stylesfrom sculpting and shaping to cornrows, Fulani braids, Afros, and more. Back matter includes a hair pattern chart showing different hair types, along with different kinds of braids and twists. There are also great “how-to” hairstyles for children to try out.
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Sylvia Rodriguez, author-illustrator
Sylvia Rodriquez is a Black and Latine artist. She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in illustration. Inspired by everyday discussions and her own curly locks, she wanted to make a book that not only showed the beauty of ethnic hairstyles, but also where they come from.
Read more about Sylvia.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Black hair can be many thingsa way to reflect beauty, to honor ones ancestors, to evoke a spiritual connection, and to be a map to freedom. This picture book offers a look at the many ways that hair is connected to Black culture from across the diaspora, showcasing a multitude of hairstyles, including everything from afros to cornrows to Bantu knots. Digital illustrations give life to the styles which are rendered in precise detail, and a variety of skin colors are shown, reflecting the diversity of people of African descent, with vibrant colors for clothing and adornments that pop against the characters skin and hair. While the book mostly focuses on the beauty and love of Black hair, it also considers the significance of hair to those who survived the Middle Passage in its descriptions of how their hair was forcibly taken away and how enslaved folks used cornrows as maps to freedom. These historical scenes step away from the contemporary pages bright, happy color palette to more subdued hues, and the terror in the eyes of characters in these pages is palpable. This would make a compelling counterpart to Harpers Salon Saturday, reviewed above, and as an exploration of the history and cultural importance of Black hairstyles. Backmatter covers both the CROWN Act and the history of multiple hairstyles.
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-62354-590-1
Ages: 48
Page count: 40
101/2 x91/2
Publication date:September 16, 2025
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