Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough

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Cornrows was written by Camille Yarbrough. She is a multi-talented veteran of theater, film, dance, and song is, like her article-mates, enjoying a renewed interest in her career. Much of that attention is generated by the 2000 re-release of her spoken word CD "The Iron Pot Cooker"(Vanguard Records). [1] This book was published by Puffin Books on January 27, 1997, as it's first edition. It has 48 pages and it is suitable for readers from 5-8 years olds. [2]

Summary

Every design has a name and means something in the powerful past and present richness of the Black tradition. This interesting story tells about Mama’s and Great-Grammaw’s gentle fingers weave the design, and their lulling voices weave the tale, as they braid their children’s hair into the striking cornrow patterns of Africa. Learning about African tradition by the young generation is rare to find.[3]

This book tells the story of a young black girl named Shirley Ann and her little brother Mike who are told wonderful stories about their hair by their mother and grandmother while having their hair cornrowed. Their grandmother delves into their family history and the history of people of African descent to give the children a sense of pride and respect for themselves and their lineage. The book is beautifully written by Camille Yarbrough and Carole Byard’s illustrations simultaneously bring to life Shirley Ann’s experiences while allowing the reader to visualize the characters from the past that her grandmother describes so vividly. [4]

Pros

Leo, a verified reader, explained that this book would be ideal for reading in classrooms with high populations of Black children, but could also be beneficial with other groups of children as a means of teaching the significance of the hairstyle for African peoples and introducing children to important Black people in history. The book would probably work best in KS2. April Scheivelhud had the same point of view as Leo, she even rated this book five stars, the reason was she absolutely loved the poetry, and also it has a rich tradition and symbolism in this book. The young black girl that was getting her hair braided hears about the origin of the braids. The grandma went on to say how people used to "name" their braids. This part references some really great African American civil rights leaders. It is highly recommended for second grade and up.[4]

References

  1. Camille Yarbrough. Retrieved Jan 18, 2021
  2. Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough. amazon.com. Retrieved Jan 18, 2021
  3. Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough, Illustrated by Carole Byard. Retrieved Jan 18, 2021
  4. 4.0 4.1 Cornrows Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough. goodreads.com. Retrieved Jan 18, 2021