My Hair is a Garden

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My Hair is a Garden Book Cover

My Hair is a Garden is children book released in April 2008, written by textile artist, clothing designer, children’s-book illustrator and now author Cozbi Cabrera. The book is about little black girl's journey from being teased about her hair to self-acceptance and celebration of its uniqueness through being thought to care for it.

Plot

This book is about a young girl named Mackenzie who is taunted by her classmates about her "always a mess" hair. She doesn't like it when her finds mocking her hair, then she decides to hide it. But then, she turns to her neighbor Miss Tillie to finds guidance and comfort. Though dark-skinned Mackenzie’s mother also appears to be black, she doesn’t know how to care for her daughter’s hair, and Mackenzie asks Miss Tillie for help.

Miss Tillie shows Mackenzie that her hair is beautiful and not something to fear or be ashamed of. Miss Tillie shows Mackenzie how to care for her hair, and think that natural black hair is beautiful, using her garden as a metaphor.

“You need to take care of your hair, just like you are having your own garden.”

Illustration

We all agreed that Cabrera’s acrylic illustrations exude a softness fitted in to the story’s has positive message. When some of skin tones are represented in the book, MacKenzie and Miss Tillie shared a rich dark color, it makes the difference between their skin and ebony hair is almost imperceptible. Opposites with bright tones of blues, greens, and reds as the patterns and backgrounds, the girl and her teacher stand out amazingly. The story gives an advantage between encouraging self-esteem and explaining each step for self improving even as Miss Tillie showes MacKenzie how to wash and combing her hair, the older lady reminds the girl that her hair is like a beautiful garden, and she needs to take care of it with love. Appended with a clear point of view of “Caring for Black Hair,” including sealing in moisture, detangling, and protective styling; and with a good recipes for some herbal infusion rinse and moisturizing shea butter.[1]

Inspiration

Cabrera wrote this book with the understanding that so many girls enter into environments that don’t support their esteem in any way, and a lot of it does revolve around hair.

"Here are crucial things that we think we should know about the other cultures that don’t necessarily come into joke. The idea is a child that had enough to tease by her friends. Then so she decides to take it as her personal actions by asking a help."

She initially wrote and illustrated My Hair Is a Garden 10 years ago, but in the decade since she began the project, Cabrera has become a mother and found her daughter facing many of the same issues her young heroine does. Not only Cabrera is trying to help black girls have a better understanding of the beauty of their hair, she also has included a few home recipes to help readers better care for their own natural hair.[2]

References

  1. Njoku, Eboni. Review of My Hair Is a Garden. Retrieved on December 20, 2020.
  2. Kai, Maiysha (2018). How Does Your Garden Grow? My Hair Is a Garden Helps Black Girls Celebrate Their Hair Retrieved on December 20, 2020