Erin Dealey

I’m honored to celebrate the Book Birthday of This Hair Belongs by my friend, JaNay Brown Wood, with gorgeous illustrations by Erin K. Robinson (Astra Young Readers). The minute I saw this beautiful, important book, I knew I wanted to know more about it and share it with all of you.

But don’t take my word for it!

“With lyrical, simile-studded prose and crisp, radiant illustrations, Brown-Wood and Robinson craft a powerful portrait of Black hair as artistry, inheritance, and pride…

‘This hair belongs in the past, the now, the future,

in the real and the imagined, in the myth and in the legend.’  JBW

—PW

Meet JaNay Brown Wood:

JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD, is an award-winning children’s author of 30+ books, poet, educator, scholar, and a former professor of Early Childhood Education and Child Development. You may remember meeting her on the Book Birthday blog celebration of SHHH! The Baby’s Asleep! (Illus. by Elissambura, Charlesbridge), or when her book Imani’s Moon, which won the NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Award was mentioned on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show! She lives with her family in Sacramento, CA.

Let’s ask some questions!

Inspiration

Q 1. Welcome back to the blog, JaNay. What was the inspiration for your beautiful ode, This Hair Belongs? Did it begin as a poem and you realized it might be a book? Were you inspired by experiences young JaNay may have encountered in understanding the relationship with your hair?

JBW: So much has inspired this book: Pain, shame, misconceptions, growth, acceptance, pride, admiration, and love spread across my life, all related to my hair. But also, the deep desire to encourage Black children to love their natural hair.

Shaping the text…

I have had so many experiences that have impacted my relationship with my hair—many being negative ones.

• Years of enduring a burning scalp every month as chemicals relaxed my natural hair, or heat from a hot comb seared my ears.
• Years of wanting long, straight hair that swished in the wind even though that is not how it grew from my scalp.
• Years of erroneously believing that to have beautiful hair, I had to change it to look different than it grew naturally.
• But also, experiences such as standing in the mirror at age thirty and being awe-struck when pulling a strand of my hair and seeing my natural curl pattern—actually seeing the beautiful spiraling curl —for the first time.
• Or being able to do my hair with a variety of hairstyles whenever I choose from braids, twists, bantu knots to twist-outs, afros, gorgeous updos, and so on.
• And being blessed with a daughter and encouraging her to embrace and love her natural hair from the start!

All of these experiences have come to help me shape the text of This Hair Belongs. It truly feels like a book that I wish I had had as a young child. That’s why I wrote it. So children see the beauty and power of their own hair. This book is for them. And for my daughter. And for me.

This book is needed…

Q 2. What surprises or discoveries popped up while you were writing this book?

JBW: Something that surprised me as I worked on the drafts of This Hair Belongs was the reaction I got from my daughter. I asked her if I could read the draft to her—she was about six years old. I began reading the poetic text, watching her as she was captivated by the words. But what stood out to me the most were the tears that slipped down her cheeks as I finished it.

I hugged her and asked her why she was crying and she told me it was beautiful and it made her feel like her hair was beautiful.

No joke, recently—she’s almost nine now—she asked me if I remembered the time she cried when I shared the text with her. I told her absolutely. I will always remember her reaction. It felt like proof that this book is needed for so many young, Black children who may not be used to hearing how wonderful their hair is. I’m here to remind them that their hair is beautiful and that they belong.

Favorites

Q 3. What is your favorite spread or line of text?

JBW: It is so very difficult to pick only one. Every spread is fantastic. However, if I had to pick just one, it would be the spread where the little girl is sitting on her father’s shoulders, her arms spread out and the text saying “This. Hair. Is. Magic. This. Hair. Belongs.”

JBW: I LOVE this spread because I see my daughter on my husband’s shoulders. Her puffs with the reddish highlights as the sun shines through—just like my daughter’s.

The bright background looks like they are walking together, into the beautiful sunlight, the sunrays kissing their melinated skin.

And the text, reminds her that no matter what, her hair is magic and she belongs. This page makes me think of my family and it resonates so deeply with me. Gorgeous.

Illustration Surprises

Q 4. Erin K. Robinson’s illustrations are stunning. What surprises did Robinson bring to the book?

JBW: Every time I look at Erin’s artwork, I imagine each spread hanging in a frame and adorning the walls of a museum.

That’s what it looks like to me: Fine art that people would travel across the country to swoon at. The colors. The images. The symbols. The detail and beauty she layered into the work. I LOVE it.

I feel so honored to have my words alongside her artwork and I hope readers love it the way I do.

Hopes and Takeaways

Q 5. What do you hope readers will take away from this important book?

JBW: I have many hopes for what readers will take from This Hair Belongs. I hope young Black readers feel empowered and proud about the natural hair that grows from their head despite so many negative narratives that surround Black hair.

I hope they will internalize the messages within the book and never feel like I did about my hair growing up.

And, I hope all readers will learn something new about hair, Black history, and Africa and will come to embrace their natural hair so it can be normalized and no longer stigmatized.

It’s a big hope, but I feel confident that beautiful conversations will emerge from a book like This Hair Belongs that will be meaningful and useful for everyone.

What’s next?

Q 6. Are there more projects in the queue that you can share?

JBW: Yes, I do have some projects in the works including This Voice Leads, the next book that follows This Hair Belongs.

I also have ACACIA: A Rapunzel Story, the next book that follows my fractured tale MAHOGANY.

And, my Where in the Garden series is expanding to Where in the Neighborhood beginning with Amara Visits the Library.

Finally, I have a Christmas themed book in the works as well, but it won’t be out until closer to 2027. Those are just a few of my upcoming books. Feel free to subscribe to my free newsletter to find out about some of my other new titles as well! Find the form to subscribe on my website

or use this QR code here:

Did someone say website?

And a newsletter with GIVEAWAYS AND FREEBIES? –> JaNayBrownWood.com

To learn more about JaNay Brown-Wood and her books,

here is her Electronic Business Card.

You can also follow her on Facebook JaNayBrownWood

Instagram: janaybrownwood

and LinkedIn: JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD

And as for those resolutions we thought we needed a few weeks ago, I love what JaNay shared on FB:

This year

no “new me”

no resolutions

or overhauls.

Instead, I am leaning further into my same goals, keeping consistent with healthy habits, and using it all as an impetus for growth. Got my planner, got my pen, got my plans.

Keeping with the slow and steady and excited to see the growth that follows. —JBW

You’ve got this, friends!

PS To learn about more NEW children’s books featured in 2026 on the Book Birthday blog, click “Subscribe” in the column on the right. **For Erin Dealey news & books subscribe to my newsletter here.

Coming Feb. 3rd:

We chat with Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle about her traditionally published debut,

As You Are: A Hope for Black Sons

illus. David Wilkerson

(Magination Press)

Happy Leaning in!