An Enchanted Hair Tale

by Alexis De Veaux

Sudan suffers when people ridicule his strange-looking hair, but he comes to accept and enjoy its enchantment

Genres: Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1987

About the author

Alexis De Veaux is a black queer feminist independent scholar whose work is published in six languages and internationally known. She is the author of several books and her work is anthologized in numerous collections. The recipient of many honors and awards, Alexis penned Warrior Poet (WW Norton, 2004), the first biography of the late lesbian poet activist, Audre Lorde; and was tenured faculty at the University at Buffalo, Department of Women’s Studies, for more than twenty years, mentoring a new generation of interdisciplinary scholars of black, feminist, and queer studies. She has won two Lambda Literary Awards; one for her Lorde biography (2005) and one for her novel, Yabo (2015).

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminded of by the much newer Caldecott book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. But this is ever so poetic. I've loved it since it was new and used it when I was teaching.

The poetry has a certain syncopation, a certain intentional occasional bump of the beat that makes it fit the theme perfectly. The art is both a subtle b&w pencil, and a bold filling-the-page drama. The characters, theme, and unfolding of the plot are all engaging and important.

I wish that I could make it clear to you how wonderful it is. Go to openlibrary.org and see for yourself.

Oh, and it's #OwnVoices, too.

[Renita · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An Enchanted Hair Tale" is written by Alexis De Veux and illustrated by Cheryl Hanna. The genre is fictional fair tale.
"An Enchanted Hair Tale" is a strange story about a boy named Sudan who is being harassed because his hair is wild like his mother's. He has dreadlocks. Grown-ups say mean things and other children make fun and hurt Sudan's feelings. Sudan walks far away from home in anger and discovers a circus full of people who, like him, have enchanted hair. Through words from his mother's friend, Sudan finds acceptance of his hair from within himself.

This story is meant for read-alouds. It is great for ages four and up. Though it is a fairy tale, it is also written with rhyme. The story requires a careful read to catch the rhythm of the verse. The book fits well in my text set as it encourages self-esteem via acceptance of who you are though you are different from those around you. I also like the story because the main character is male and I believe African-American males should also be represented in picture books about self-image. The story is not realistic in the terms of finding a circus sitting in the middle of a street but, the circumstances regarding the harassment of the character are.

The illustrations by Cheryl Hanna follow the story well. Hanna's characters' features are clearly drawn and not exaggerated. Though the illustrations are realistic for the characters, they also carry the fairy tale genre farther than the script of the story. The images of floating planets, pyramids, and a man riding upon a zebra give the story its fairy tale qualities. The pictures are black and white yet they pop from the page due to their vivid imagery.

There are no other races represented in either the story or illustrations other than African-Americans. The book contain no stereotypes and is a good representation both in script and image of African-Americans. The author and illustrator are African-American.

[Phylicia Bohannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Enchanted Hair Tale is a fictional story about a young boy who doesn’t understand why his hair is so different from everyone else’s and why did his parents decide to give him dreadlocks. He is teased because of his hair and decides to run away for a while. While away he runs into an old family friend that teaches him the importance of being proud of the hair he has.
I would use this text in my classroom to show students that not everyone has the same kind of hair and sometimes someone’s hair can be a result of their parent’s choice in what kind of hair they will have. Students could interact with the text in that they could see that the young boy in the story learns to accept is hair and becomes proud of it. After reading An Enchanted Hair Tale students might be able to understand that hair does not define who you are as a person.
Alexis De Veaux is the author and she is also a poet and author of African American literature. De Veaux does a good job of giving a very detailed story about self-acceptance about things that may just be out of your control. This book can teach children that different hair textures come from people being different and coming from different places.

[Breauna Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a young boy, Sudan, who is picked on about his hair, which are dreadlocks. He is so stressed about what everyone is saying that he runs away. He then runs into a circus that has others with the same hair as him. Ultimately, Sudan learns to accept his hair and to ignore the negative words of others. This book is good for showing children how the boy is treated and give pride to those apart of the same cultural group that are going through similar things. This book relates to my cultural topic because many member of the African american community have dreadlocks. The genre for this book is fiction. It is age appropriate because it can keep children's attention. It is a quality children's book because it tells a story and has good illustration, even though the pictures are in black and white.

[Lindsey Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Enchanted Hair Tale is the story of a young boy named Sudan. He is constantly teased about his 'wild' hair style by everyone. One day he runs away because he doesn't want to hear about it anymore. He stumbles upon a traveling circus. Some of the performers have the same 'wild' hair style as Sudan and they quickly bond. Personally, I didn't like this book that much. The best part of it was the illustrations, but they didn't seem to correspond with the story line. The book did't promote individuality as well as other children's books do. Sudan does however learn some good advice from one of the performers "Sticks and stone will break your bones, but words should never harm you."

[Azriana Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story is about a boy named Sudan being teased about his dreadlocks. In the end, he comes to love the way he looks because Pearl Poet tells him "Just be your pretty self Sudan. And remember this.. ugly words shall never harm you." I would not use this text in the classroom. The story rhymes sometimes and sometimes it does not. Children may not accept such an adult message. The illustration are the best part of the book in my opinion, although they are black and white.

[Cws]

JERR- DeV Self acceptance

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favourite childrens books when I was little. Still have it on my shelf (planning to share it with my own kids).

[Madeline Wakem · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy who finally finds friends who allows him to accept his own hair after being made fun of so many times.