I am a woman with natural hair that is guilty of going to sleep without wrapping my hair with a silk scarf. It's true! And everyone knows that this is a natural girl no-no. However, it was not until I read Cherelle Shelton's
Princess Curl that I fully understood why. Inspired by her daughter Ananda, the main character of this absolutely adorable children's book, Princess Curl, is a little girl with a head full of curly hair. She forgets to put on her silk bonnet before bed time. This results in bad fairies, that look a lot like really fab Ailey dancers, tying knots in her hair and dangling lint balls from her ends. She wakes up mortified about it, but luckily, her mother had some coconut oil and water to help detangle her tresses, restoring her crown of glory.
Shelton has a knack for breaking things down for kiddies to understand. A mother of three and a scientist, she did the same thing in her first book,
Feedies, which introduced kids to Earth Science. I love how the natural movement is now widening its net to include children, helping them to never experience the hair trauma of generations past. If only there was a book like
Princess Curl when I was a little girl that addressed what to do after numerous home box relaxers gone wrong.
Princess Curl
Written by Cherelle Shelton
Illustrated by Rhys Shelton
