Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship

Schools have very diverse populations these days, and sometimes the children have trouble understanding how to talk to each other. This lovely book by Irene Latham and Charles Waters is a fantastic way to start the conversation. It is a book of the most amazing poems that shine a light on the different experiences children have in school when race affects them. Irene Latham is white and Charles Waters is black. Each is firmly in touch with her and his inner child and both are incredible poets. The poems of classroom and playground experiences are rich, profound, and exquisite. The subjects that each writes about run the gamut from shoes to hair to forgiveness and apology to punishment, from the N-bomb to piano lessons. All of these and more will speak to children and help them to think about the issues of black and white. Not one page, not one line, not one word disappoints in this amazing book. Illustrations by Sean Qualls and Selena Alko complement these terrific poems of friendship, race, and the uncertainty of being a child. This is a book that deserves wide readership in elementary and middle schools and homes everywhere.