Review: Big Hair, Don't Care by Crystal-Swain Bates, illustrated by Megan Bair

Black schoolgirl, Lola, has big curly Afro hair and it makes her stand out in a crowd. But does she care? Not one bit!

US Author and publisher Crystal Swain-Bates, who wrote this poetic picture book in 2013, ardently promotes multicultural diversity in all her books, aiming, in her words, to ‘normalise Black girl magic and Black boy joy’.

Although her sentiment is well-meaning and extremely valid, I’m not convinced Big Hair, Don’t Care, which disappointingly is not of great production quality, wholly succeeds in its aim to affirm young Black girls.

From the outset, there's an unintended overriding sense that there’s something wrong with having natural Afro hair which perhaps is a slightly odd place to start if you intend to boost children’s self-esteem and self-confidence.

The middle of the book is more positive as Lola describes her hair’s versatility and all the hairstyles she can create with its glorious texture and curl pattern. There is also a strong message, throughout, about being proud to be different and how to rise above negativity when ‘the other kids stare’.

Slightly contrived rhyming lines, in the text, don’t always hit the mark so overall Big Hair, Don’t Care would probably not be my first choice if looking for a book to celebrate Afro hair. Arguably other books, such as Hair Love and I Love My Hair!, handle this topic more successfully.

All the Black children's books that I review are checked against my Jericho Benchmark.