Can I Touch Your Hair?
Can I Touch Your Hair?

Can I Touch Your Hair?

Written by Irene Latham and Charles Waters & illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls
Hardcover
$17.99
$16.97
8 - 12
Reading age
40
Page count
77
Words per page
~720L
Lexile measure
Jan 1, 2018
Publication date

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What's This Book About

Publisher Summary

Two poets, one white and one black, explore race and childhood in this must-have collection tailored to provoke thought and conversation. How can Irene and Charles work together on their fifth grade poetry project? They don’t know each other . . . and they’re not sure they want to. Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is black, use this fictional setup to delve into different experiences of race in a relatable way, exploring such topics as hair, hobbies, and family dinners. Accompanied by artwork from acclaimed illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko (of The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage), this remarkable collaboration invites readers of all ages to join the dialogue by putting their own words to their experiences.– “Other Print”

What Kind of Book is Can I Touch Your Hair?

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    The Creatives Behind the Book

      Author
      Irene Latham

      Irene Latham is the author of more than a dozen current and forthcoming books, including two novels for children: Leaving Gee’s Bend and Don’t Feed the Boy. Winner of the 2016 ILA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, her poetry books for children include Dear Wandering Wildebeest, When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, Fresh Delicious and Can I Touch Your Hair? (co-written with Charles Waters). Irene lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her family where she does her best to “live her poem” every single day by laughing, playing the cello, and walking in the woods.

      Illustrator
      Selina Alko

      Selina Alko grew up in Canada and has been a painter since she was a child. She loves mixing materials together to create artwork for her award-winning children’s books. Besides working in her studio, Selina likes to travel, be involved in her community, and spend time with her children. Selina makes her home in Brooklyn, NY, with her family and their two parakeets, Sunny and Snowy.

      Illustrator
      Sean Qualls

      Sean Qualls is an award winning, Brooklyn-based, children’s book illustrator, artist and author. He has illustrated a number of highly acclaimed books for children, including Giant Steps to Change The World by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis-Lee, Little Cloud and Lady Wind by Toni Morrison and her son Slade, and Before John Was a Jazz Giant, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Illustration Honor. Sean also created the art for Dizzy by Jonah Winter and Skit Scat Raggedy Cat by Roxane Orgill. His work has received two Blue Ribbon citations from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. Qualls has created illustrations for magazines, newspapers, and advertisements and his work has been shown in galleries in New York and across the country.

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    What Has Selina Alko Said About This Book

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    Book Details

    ISBN
    9781512404425
    Publication Date
    January 1, 2018
    Publisher
    Carolrhoda Books
    Original Publication Date
    January 1, 2018
    Text Details
    Main body text set in Aptifer Slab LT Pro Medium 11/16.5 and Helvetica Neue Light 11/17.5. Typefaces provided by Linotype AG.
    Illustration Details
    The illustrations in this book were created with acrylic paint, colored pencil, and collage.
    Page Count
    40
    Words Per Page
    77
    Audience
    Picture
    Reading Age
    8 - 12 years
    Lib. of Congress (LCCN)
    2016045348
    WorldCat Number (OCLC)
    1129405830
    Est. Lexile® Level
    ~720L
    Scholastic Level
    U
    Est. Fountas & Pinnell Level
    ~Q
    ATOS® Book Level
    4.6
    Accelerated Reader® Points
    0.5
    Accelerated Reader Quiz
    195373
    Accelerated Reader Interest Level
    MG

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