Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship
Two poets, one white and one black, explore race and childhood in this must-have collection tailored to provoke thought and conversation.
How can Irene and Charles work together on their fifth grade poetry project? They don't know each other . . . and they're not sure they want to.
Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is Black, use this fictional setup to delve into different experiences of race in a relatable way, exploring such topics as hair, hobbies, and family dinners. Accompanied by artwork from acclaimed illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko (of The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage), this remarkable collaboration invites readers of all ages to join the dialogue by putting their own words to their experiences.
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Sean Qualls is the Coretta Scott King Honor illustrator of Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane, by Carole Boston Weatherford. His art appears in many children's books, including Little Cloud and Lady Wind, by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, and Giant Steps to Change the World, by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee. Mr. Qualls lives in Brooklyn, New York.
"These poems explore diversity with refreshing honesty and complexity--and truly capture the personalities and voices of these two rising stars of poetry."--Janet Wong, author and co-creator of The Poetry Friday Anthology series
-- (6/9/2017 12:00:00 AM)"In tantalizing free verse poems, Irene Latham and Charles Waters reimagine themselves as fifth-grade strangers, then classmates, and finally friends. Can I Touch Your Hair? is a compelling portrait of two youngsters dancing delicately through a racial minefield."--J. Patrick Lewis, former US Children's Poet Laureate
-- (6/7/2017 12:00:00 AM)"[D]elicately demonstrate[s] the complexity of identity and the power of communication to build friendships."--starred, Publishers Weekly
-- (11/13/2017 12:00:00 AM)"A fresh approach to exploring interracial communication. . . . A brave and touching portrayal worthy of sharing in classrooms across America."--starred, Kirkus Reviews
-- (9/21/2017 12:00:00 AM)"[A]n unusually candid book for pre-YA kids about race and difference, allowing for the possibility of the mistakes (the word is right in the subtitle) but also a hopeful outcome as Irene and Charles find enrichment in their friendship."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
-- (4/18/2018 12:00:00 AM)"It took four people to bring us Can I Touch Your Hair? and countless others to bring it to our library and bookstore shelves. It takes only one person to buy it and show it to a kid. And it takes only one to use it as the conversation starter we've needed for so long."--A Fuse #8 Production
-- (2/21/2018 12:00:00 AM)"Qualls and Alko's layering of print newspaper clippings over paint begs readers to take a closer look. . . . [A]n excellent read-aloud or a launch pad for collaborative classroom writing."--The Horn Book Magazine
-- (12/4/2017 12:00:00 AM)"Young readers searching for means to have difficult, emotional, and engaged discussions about race will find an enlightening resource in Irene and Charles' explorations."--Booklist
-- (10/17/2017 12:00:00 AM)"A fresh and heartwarming take on bridging the racial divide."--Carole Boston Weatherford, author of Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
-- (6/9/2017 12:00:00 AM)
