Nappy Hair

Title:  Nappy Hair 

Author/Illustrator: Carolivia Herron/Joe Cepeda 

APA Citation:  Herron, C. (1997). Nappy hair. New York, NY: Knopf. 

Lexile Score:  AD200L-Recommended adult read to child (Grades Pre-K-3) 

Target Audience: I think this is a great story for a variety of ages.  It emphasizes that you should be proud of who you are no matter what anyone else has to say. 

Summary: This was a very sweet story about a young girl whose family supported her in helping her believe that she was made just how God intended.  Some people may not like her nappy hair, but she knows that it is a part of her, and she Is perfect the way that she is.

Evaluation:

	4	3	2	1
Theme/Moral	The theme/moral of the story was worthwhile and provided a non-biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was worthwhile but portrayed a somewhat biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was somewhat worthwhile, but portrayed a biased message for the reader.	Theme/moral of the story was not worthwhile and portrayed a biased message for the reader.
Characterization	Characters in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Illustrations	Illustrations in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were not relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Multicultural Aspects	Story provided accurate representations of  several cultures.	Story provided accurate representations of more than one culture.	Story provided accurate representation of only one culture.	Story did not provide accurate representations of  the culture discussed.
Historical Value	The story's historical references were accurate and did not convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were accurate, did convey some biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were somewhat accurate, and did convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were not accurate, and conveyed a biased opinion of the event depicted.
Self and Social Identities	This book positively counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book attempts to counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book does not reinforce stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book reinforces stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.
Language	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, and used alternatives to generic terms.	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, but did use some generic terms.	This book did contain some "loaded" words, or consistently used generic terms.	This book did contain "loaded words, and consistently used generic terms.
Overall Rating	I would use this book in my future classroom and recommend it to other teachers.	I would try to use this book in my future classroom and might recommend it to other teachers.	If the occasion arose, I might read this book, but probably would not recommend it.	I would not use or recommend this book.

Overall Score: 24/32 

Literary Elements: Repetition, call and response story structure, personification, simlies 

Social Justice Elements:  Belief in self, strong family bonds, taking pride in one's heritage. 

Sample Lesson:  One lesson I might try is to have the students write about something they do not like about themselves.  After they have chosen a characteristic, I would have them describe at least five good things that the characteristic has given them.  I would want to emphasize that even though we may have qualities that are different, there is a reason we have those qualities and they make us better at being out unique selves.