Saturday, April 20, 2019

Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters - ESSENTIAL

Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. PICTURE BOOK/POETRY. Carolrhoda Books (Lerner Imprints), 2018. $18. 9781512404425

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

When the teacher assigns a poetry project, Charles and Irene become partners - so different, but are they? Charles is black, Irene is white - but as they start writing, they start learning about each other. They write about shoes and hair, church. They both hate the beach for different reasons, and don't fit in with the other kids on the playground. Their families love them even when they are trouble. Now they see each other as individuals. 


I can totally relate to Irene! I grew up in a community with very little diversity and worried about working with people I didn't know or who looked different from me.  Applause to Latham and Waters who put their talents together to show us we have more in common than we think. Working with different people enriches our friend group and our lives. Well done, an essential read for the elementary classroom.

Lisa Librarian

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