One of the reasons why I started writing books for children that featured African American children was because I felt that when it came to books featuring African American children, we often diminished those aspects of our kids. And I think the way they approach learning and thinking and perspectives on the world are different as a result of having all of those influences but I think fundamentally going into a classroom now, I still find the same types of excitement that kids have around different elements of story - the same questions, the same curiosity. Q: Are the kids of the 1990s similar to those of the 2020s? Do you feel you might have to put a different spin or angle on things because they are somewhat different?Ī: Yes today’s kids have grown up with different toys and technology. So it’s about making friends and things changing a little bit, but how you could find new ways of connecting. So it’s about how we grow as people, how we grow in our friendships with each other, how we communicate and collaborate and compromise with each other. Maybe her friend isn’t as interested in some of the same things that they used to do. And when her friend comes, she notices that things are a little bit different. The second one is “I Love My Friend” and she’s planning a huge sleepover for her friend. The first one is family and she throws the movie night. Q: What kind of adventures will Keyana go on?Ī: The first four books will feature general topics and she’ll have her specific take on these things.
The new series is more in line with the “Fancy Nancy” books or these really strong girl protagonists who are navigating the world with the force of their own personality. This was an opportunity to really build out her character and to take some of those qualities that we start to see in “I Love My Hair!” and really create a more fully fleshed out character who is the center of the story and who has her own adventures that are separate from hair. And this little girl in “I Love My Hair!” we see these things about her, her imagination as she talks about the different hairstyles and the images that she associates with those hairstyles, but we don’t get a chance to really know who she is. It was about how kids could use their imagination and celebrate the qualities that were unique about them.
What I meant by development is that the impetus for writing “I Love My Hair!” was actually never really about hair in and of itself. Elaborate.Ī: “I Love My Hair!” is definitely going strong and has made its place in the world. Q: You said you felt you needed to develop Keyana a bit more.
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