My Hair is a Garden

Written and Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

This book is a visual masterpiece by a Black artisan, puppeteer, and illustrator, Cozbi A. Cabrera. We follow the journey of a young Black student as she struggles to accept the power of her hair, eventually drawing comfort and confidence from the similarities between her neighbor’s garden and her natural hair. It is very focused on Black girls and the experience of being a young Black girl in America. The sting of feeling alienated from white peers is met with the power of having older black female role models and champions in your life

This would be a great classroom library addition not only for Black girls in your class but to serve as a window for other students. I love that this book addresses that hair is a source of power, particularly for Black women. Illustrated hair care tips are also included at the closing of the book, which I think is very thoughtful and useful. This book is explicit about who it is for- Black girls. Female kinship is also a major theme of the book, as the narrator’s neighbor Ms. Tilley acts as guide, teacher, and protector for the narrator. 

This book would be a powerful addition to a unit on the Teaching Tolerance standard of identity or diversity, as the book rallies around the strength of Black female identity. The book invites students to think about powerful figures in their own family or neighborhood that they trust, and what cultural touchstones they derive power from.