Jamie Loves Her Natural Hair Children’s Book Project

After hearing way too many stories of children being told by their schools that their hair is “inappropriate” or “unacceptable” I decided to create a children’s book that would teach children of color, they are beautiful just the way they are.

If you remember the story of Vanessa Vandyke, she seemed to have confidence in her hair even though most of those around her were not so fond of it. In fact, the very reason the school officials asked that she cut her hair was based upon her being bullied and teased about her hair. She said her hair makes her different it made her unique. She embraced the uniqueness of her hair. I found this to be very admirable as many girls don’t have this  level of confidence at such a young age.

Another motivating fact is the lack of diverse children’s characters. I don’t have kids yet but my friends and relatives do.  When buying gifts I was frustrated by the lack of characters representation.

My little cousin loves anything about princesses. Stores tons of princess stuff alright but it lacked faces of color; which I found troubling. Sometimes my little cousin asks why her hair is different from the other girls in her dance class. Thankfully, she has a great mom that tell her, her hair is beautiful. But she still needs more images in children stories and cartoons to reinforce this.

Why not create something that would teach kids that kinks are cool!

Jamie Loves Her Natural Hair is the story of a girl that realizes her hair is not mainstream but she embraces and loves her hair regardless. She knows her hair doesn’t look like her classmates, her teachers, or even her favorite TV stars and that’s ok.  She doesn’t view this as a bad thing.

What I love about this project and what differentiates it from others in its niche is the positivity that radiates from the character. At no point does she view her hair as unruly or hard to manage. She takes everything in stride and accepts her hair for what it is.

This is a book with an important message and value; teaching our children the beauty of self love. We need more art and literature that sends children of color this message.

I have started a kickstarter project to help cover the printing costs for this book @ http://kck.st/1iHroOh. It only takes a $1 to donate and if you donate as much as $5 you will receive a copy of the book. There are also other neat prizes for those who donate more!  I hope that you can join me in my endeavors to print this message and share it with the world.

Sincerely,

Ariane Roberts