Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poetry Review
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Latham, Irene, and Charles Waters. Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship. Minneapolis,
MN: Carolrhoda Books. ISBN-13: 978-1-5124-0442-5
Qualls, Sean and Selina Alko. Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship.
Irene Latham and Charles Waters. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books. ISBN-13:
978-1-5124-0442-5
SUMMARY/ANALYSIS
This remarkable work of art is a perfect example of a beautifully
done poetic picture storybook. This picture book shares the experiences of two
students who are put together to work together on a poem project, which is
introduced in the first poem in this book called “The Poem Project”. A white
little girl named Irene is paired with a black little boy named Charles. This
book serves to highlight racial similarities and differences, as well as issues,
mistakes, and overall friendship. We follow these two children as they use
their poems and poetic language to express and share both their separate and
similar experiences, such as what church is like for them, going to the beach, time
on the playground, and even experiences surrounding shoe shopping and their
hair. Both Irene’s and Charles’s poems do not follow a rhyme scheme, instead
mimicking their natural language and thought process, making it easy to follow.
Due to this, the reader feels as if they are present during each happening or
event, as well as if they are privy to the secret information in each child’s
head. Irene’s poems flow in separate small paragraphs, some with only a
sentence or two, mimicking the way in which she pauses during her explanations,
storytelling, and though process. On the other hand, Charles’s poems tend to be
presented in larger paragraphs, the entire poem only being about one or two paragraphs
as he knows exactly what he wants to say and how to say it in his poems. Both poems
flow as natural storytelling and have a conversational feeling to them,
providing for ease of the reader as they read along and dive deep into the minds
of both Irene and Charles. These poems would be perfect for children of all
ages and beg to be read together in a group setting!
Accompanying the beautifully created poems are creative and
captivating illustrations created by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. These images
are colorful and are a delight to look at, perfectly adding to the feeling of
each individual poem found within this book. The images also serve to enhance
the idea of differences and similarities between young Irene and Charles. For
example, Irene’s poem “Church” and Charles’s poem “Sunday Service” contain
images unique to each of their experiences. Irene’s poem speaks of a Catholic
type mass on Sunday, highlighting aspects of lighting candles for the sick,
standing and kneeling, and stained-glass windows. With these poetic
descriptions is an illustration of Irene’s church. We see the filled pews, people
dressed in church clothes, and the stained-glass windows. On the other side is
Charles’s poem describing people testifying at his church, ladies in large
church hats, and the biblical description of a dark Jesus, despite the white
one hanging on the cross in the front. The imagery that goes with this poem adds
to the overall poem by showing the decorative church hats and a depiction of a
light-skinned Jesus handing on the cross, young Charles staring ahead at it in
confusion. All of the illustrations pair perfectly with the poems and provide
for an overall magical experience of losing oneself within this picture book.
POEM PLUS “TAKE 5” ACTIVITIES
The poem “Strands” is a perfect example of a poem from this
poetic picture storybook that highlights a race issue and mistake made by
others towards the character Charles. In this poem, Charles tells of a
situation that angered him where another boy, without waiting for permission to
do so, touches Charles’s hair and makes a comment about its texture. The way in
which the poem is crafted allows the reader to be fully immersed within the
scene, easily following the narration as well as the simple conversation that occurs
between Charles and the other little boy named Dennis. This poem is accompanied
by an image of young Charles, cheeks flushed in frustration, angry look upon
his little face, as we see a hand above his hair in the midst of patting it.
Strands
By Irene Latham and Charles Waters
On a
random Tuesday on the bus,
Dennis
asks me, “Can I touch your hair?” He pats it
before I can respond. “It feels like a sponge,”
he says.
My
fists clench, and my face gets hot. “You need to learn to wait
for an answer after asking permission,” I tell
him and pat his hair, hard.
“Oh,
how about that? Your hair feels like a mop.” I say.
I keep
my fists ready, but he turns away.
Take 5
Activities
1. Read
the poem aloud to the group, making sure to show the image the whole time. Read
it slowly and with feeling.
2. Reread
the poem aloud, encouraging the group to play the part of Charles, reading his
line out loud when it comes to his part.
3. Reflect
on the poem together and discuss what happened in the poem. Did someone’s
feelings get hurt? Why/how can you tell? How would this experience make you
feel?
4. Link this
poem to the picture book Princess Hair
by Sharee Miller (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017), and talk about how
unique everyone’s hair is, and how great all hair is of different colors,
textures, and styles!
5. Link this
poem to another similar poem called “Hair” by Andrea White (Hello Poetry, https://hellopoetry.com/words/hair/).
Discuss what this poem is saying about hair, and how it compare/contrasts to
the “Strands” poem.
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