My Beautiful Curly Hair
by Kiana Holder and Arya Holder
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GENRE: Children's
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BLURB:
This
is a story about a little girl who struggles with keeping her hair neat all the
time, but grows to love and accept her wild and messy hair.
Kiana
and Arya think having messy hair is more fun. Keeping your hair neat all the
time is a lot of work.
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EXCERPT ONE:
When
I wake up in the morning, my hair looks Kind of crazy.
Sometimes
when I brush it, my hair gets really poofy. I think it looks a little silly.
Everyone
in my family tells me I look beautiful no matter what my hair looks like. I
know they are right… but… my hair makes me super mad sometimes!
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MY BOOK REVIEW:
Wow!! I absolutely LOVED
this book and more than ever wish this book had been available when I was a
kid!!!
As soon as I saw this book on the book tour page, I knew I had
to read this book, and it did not disappoint!!!
I was thrilled to find this book, as it was easy to relate to,
and even at times felt like it was written about me and my crazy, curly hair
struggles.
This book is such an incredible, insightful, fun, sweet,
adorable, charming children’s read!!
This book shines a bright light on inclusiveness, diversity,
acceptance, and understanding cultural norms!!
People of color are usually the ones that often end up with wild, crazy,
curly hair and it can be a complicated and complex situation for others to
understand the real-life struggle and stresses of maintaining such a
challenging hairdo. My friends often
didn’t understand why I always wore my hair up in a ponytail or a bun or
braids. They didn’t understand why my
hair often still looked unruly, and some would even comment how gross and
frizzy my hair looked or even tease that I needed to learn how to brush my
hair.
Growing up I ALWAYS hated my hair!!! My curls would constantly get in my face and
bother me!!! Every morning I would wake
up with the frizziest, wild curls that would have given Einstein a run for his
money on craziest hairdo award. My mom
would often put my hair into two braids before bed, to help reduce some of the
frizz. And I can’t begin to tell you how
many shampoos, conditioners, creams, ointments, oils, sprays, etc. that I’ve
tried over the years to help calm my hair down.
More than often, they proved ineffective, if not leading to worse
problems, like stiff, sticky, gloopy, greasy hair, dandruff, and dry, brittle, damaged,
split ends.
So, I pretty much ALWAYS wore my hair up in a ponytail or a bun
or braids. Especially, if I had P.E.
that day or something active, because any type of sweaty activities would cause
my hair to get super messy, even more frizzy, and just wildly out of
control. Plus, it’s not like I could
just brush it, that would only make it worse and turn it into a total fro!!!
Anytime my hair had to be brushed, there was always a large amount of
water involved. Whether it was from the
shower, a dunk under the facet, or a spray bottle, that was the only way to try
to brush threw those curls, without cause more frizz and without worrying about
getting the comb or brush tangled in my hair.
And that is no exaggeration – that actually happened!!! When I was in fourth grade, it was picture
day, and my best friend came over early that morning so we could get ready
together. She had some cool idea for my
hair, so I let her brush and style it.
Well, she used her brush, which was one of those round barrel, porcupine
hairbrushes, which she got completely tangled and stuck in my hair and we could
not get it out!! My mom had already left
for work, but my stepdad was home. He
wouldn’t let me miss school and hide out at home, and we already running late,
so his brilliant idea was to use scissors and cut the hairbrush out!! Yeahhhhh!!!
It was awful!!! There was a HUGE
chunk of my hair missing and it was on the left front side, you couldn’t help
but notice!!! But I still had to go to
school, so I wore a hat to try to hide it.
For the record, hats were not allowed in school, but my teacher felt bad
for me, when I told her what happened, so she made an exception. I was in tears for days until my mom could
take me to a hairdresser to get it fixed, which wasn’t really a fix, more like
a super short haircut solution. Now, at
the time, my hair was super long, past my butt, so I ended losing more than 14
inches!!! It was a devastating change,
but the only silver lining was that I learned about Locks for Love and was able
to donate my hair to be made into a wig for someone battling cancer. Which ended up becoming a yearly tradition,
to grow out my hair and then donate, and I still do that to this day.
Unlike the main character in this book, my family doesn’t look
like me, and not only couldn’t relate, but often didn’t understand the
complications and complexity of having such curly hair. My mom is Caucasian (Swedish) with long,
straight, Dirty Blonde hair, blue eyes.
She can roll out of bed, run a brush or comb through her hair a couple
times, and be good to go, and actually look put together. I on the other hand, have to spend 10-15
minutes on my hair so I don’t look homeless lol. It requires water, brushing, more water,
brushing, 2-3 hair products, then I can put it into a ponytail or bun, and be
good to go. But then there will be at
least two or so additional hair fixes throughout the day, where I need more water
or more hair products to tame the afternoon frizzies and grease. My mom’s hair, still not a strand out of
place.
As an adult, I still constantly struggle with my hair. It’s more of a love-hate relationship these
days. However, I’ve learned to let go
more and not be as stressed out over it or as embarrassed by it. I still usually wear my hair in a ponytail or
a bun and I’m not going to lie, on bad hair days I might not leave the house
without hiding my frizz under a baseball cap.
Especially if I plan to go out anywhere after the gym or P.T., because
my hair still gets uber frizzy after a workout.
But now I don’t obsess over straightening it every day or before leaving
the house. And every now and then, I see
those curls as beautiful, and will occasionally wear it down for special events. But I’m also practical, so when I had to have
my ankle surgeries I went to a salon the day before my procedure to have my
hair straightened by a professional so that when I woke up in the hospital and
for the first week of recovery, my hair was not something I had to worry about.
Like I said, I really wish I had read this book as kid, as it
felt good to hear another girl going though the same thing and being able to
understand and relate to her.
Unfortunately, these types of resources weren’t available back then, and
it led to insecurities, and many painful and embarrassing memories. I’m truly thankful for Kiana and Arya writing
such an important story!!! I know this
book will offer young readers the opportunity to understand, embrace and accept
their unique differences. And perhaps
even allow others to realize frizz is not a hygiene problem or lazy person
problem, it's part of our DNA.
I also absolutely LOVED the beautiful, fun, bright, vibrant,
energetic illustrations!! The colors are
gorgeous and are sure to excite and stimulate young readers!!
As it should be since this is a children’s book, this book is
“G” rated as there is no swearing, no violence, no adult situations, and no
sexual content.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would
absolutely recommend it!! I think all
children and young readers will like this book too, especially those that also
have crazy, wild curls!! So, add it to
your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!!
**Disclaimer: I received a
complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and
unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations**
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AUTHOR BIO:
Kiana and Arya are a mother-daughter duo who enjoy reading. The storyline for this
book came from Arya's and Kiana's childhood experiences.
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CONNECT WITH KIANA & ARYA:
Website:
https://worldofkicreations.ca
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mybeautifulcurlyhairbook
Goodreads Author Page – Kiana Holder:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21555549.Kiana_Holder
Goodreads Author Page – Arya Holder:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21555550.Arya_Holder
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58212738-my-beautiful-curly-hair
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Paperback:
https://amzn.to/31yRxNI
Amazon US Hardcover:
https://amzn.to/3EsT0E1
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Beautiful-Curly-Hair-Kiana-Holder/dp/0228848423
Amazon CA Hardcover:
https://www.amazon.ca/Beautiful-Curly-Hair-Kiana-Holder/dp/0228855543
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-beautiful-curly-hair-kiana-holder/1139568832?ean=9780228848424
Barnes and Noble Hardcover:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-beautiful-curly-hair-kiana-holder/1139568832?ean=9780228855545
Book Depository Paperback:
https://www.bookdepository.com/My-Beautiful-Curly-Hair-Kiana-Holder-Arya-Holder/9780228848424
Book Depository Hardcover:
https://www.bookdepository.com/My-Beautiful-Curly-Hair-Kiana-Holder/9780228855545
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Kiana and Arya will
be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn
winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
