In this book you have “Deep, secret brown.Feathery brown.Amber brown. It reminds me of the long ongoing battle within the makeup industry having numerous shades with a million different names for white foundation/concealer colors only to have three shades of brown-light, medium, dark. The amount of adjectives used to describe shades of brown is awe inspiring too. Including them in this celebration of differences means a lot. They are mocked in hair care aisles or met with confusion when seen buying hair dye.
Time and time again people forget that women who wear hijabs also have hair to celebrate. This book refuses to “ people as one thing over and over again that is what they become.” I also want to take a minor sidebar and celebrate the author and/or illustrator’s choice to include those two girls wearing hijabs. This book takes the idea of a “single story” as talked about in Chimanianda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk and throws it out of the window completely. Illustrated are different types of hairstyles (every character has their hair done differently), positive representation of disabilities (the main character’s little brother and her friend with Vitiligo), as well as an inclusivity of other marginalized identities (her friends wearing hijabs). When it comes to picture books, voices do not have to speak to be heard. When it comes to the #ownvoices movement, while it is clearly from the stance of Black voices, Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration includes so many other voices. Thank you to NetGalley and Tilbury House Publishers for providing a digital ARC. But I just can't see this appealing to children. If this were aimed at adults, I might've given it a higher rating. Kids might enjoy looking at the illustrations, but are they really going to want to sit and listen to what is, essentially, a really long free-verse poem? But, again, there's that mismatch with the audience. The pictures are cute and really highlight the text nicely.
But the vocabulary is just too much, and I don't know how many kids would sit through something that's so wordy. The words are evocative, and I like the way each flowery description of a shade of brown is tied back to the little girl narrating the story. Were I to have viewed it as something aimed at adults, I probably would've liked it better. This is yet another picture book for adults disguised as one for children. Like honey harvested from the hive in Auntie's yard.Ī sacred, healing elixir, a balm for beleagueredīorn from the billowing bustle of industriousīees, stretching into a soft, squiggly line as it
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