Know Your Hairitage
Book Series
KNOW YOUR HAIRITAGE
BOOK SERIES
The Know Your Hairitage ™ Book series is a collection of children’s books (ages 5-9) that celebrates global cultural hair traditions. This beautifully illustrated series was designed to empower, educate and uplift children and adults with heritage by way of “hairitage.”
Author, Zenda Walker is a licensed cosmetologist who from an early age looked at the world from the lens of beauty and fashion. She remembered how important wash day was growing up. It was a right of passage and important bonding time for her, her twin sister and mom. Many of her Black friends and clients shared similar wash day experiences well into their adulthood. Along her hair journey, Zenda discovered that friends of various nationalities had hair grooming traditions that told their ancestral stories as well.
Once Zenda began to have conversations about the significance of their cultural hair styles on her daughter’s hair wash days, she noticed Zara’s confidence increased, she was dealing with conflict better, and the best part-her grades improved! Zenda realized she could help other families when she learned boys with textured hair were also experiencing similar insecurities. She discovered that by exploring their own hair stories, children develop a strong sense of identity and cultural belonging while building critical thinking skills.
.The Know Your Hairitage ™ believes that the more we all seek to acknowledge and understand others, the closer we will get to an inclusive world that values diversity. Education is the key.
ZARA’s WASH DAY
It’s wash day and Zara is not excited about wearing her hair in the same styles Mama usually creates. But once Mama takes Zara on a cultural journey to help her understand the significance of each hairstyle, wash days will never be the same!
“Zara’s Wash Day” includes a foreward by Academy Award winning actor and New York Times best selling author Lupita Nyong’o, a how-to tutorial on the cover Fulani-Inspired Afro Puffs, and glossary of hairitage terms that empowers adults to dive deeper into the history..
ZION’S CROWN
The second book in the Know Your Hairitage series, “Zion’s Crown” features a boy protagonist who learns about how his cultural hairstyles connect his ancestry and the stories of influential leaders of the past and present. “Zion’s Crown” includes a cover blurb from Award-Winning author and anti-racist activist Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, a how-to tutorial on the cover Ethiopian-Inspired Crossover Cornrows, and Glossary of hairitage terms that empowers adults to dive deeper into the history.
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