Hair to Share

A child’s abundant hair becomes the means through which she expresses care for a playmate in this well-meaning tale. “Born with more hair than anyone had ever seen on a baby,” Suri, a bespectacled Black child, delights in the many hairstyles she sports. When Suri compliments Amaya, a child portrayed with light brown skin, on her purple headscarf, the two become fast friends on the playground, but Amaya runs off after the scarf slips off during a cartwheel, revealing that she doesn’t have hair. Suri searches to no avail until she spots a sign at a salon (“We make wigs from donated hair”) and learns that Amaya has been awaiting a wig. It’s not long before Suri has had her hair “washed, cut, measured, wrapped, and mailed,” and the resultant headpiece provides a happy ending for both Amaya and the children’s friendship. Though the limited portrayal focuses squarely on Suri’s feelings about Amaya’s situation, emotive watercolors portray the scenario in delicately wrought, fine-lined detail. A note, “Why We Share Our Hair,” concludes. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)