Sihle Nontshokweni and Mathabo Tlali
Illustrated by Chantelle and Burgen Thorne
Meet Wanda, with her glorious head full of hair. She is brave and strong, but she’s taunted mercilessly by the boys for her ‘thorn bush’/’thunderstorm cloud’. She wants to be proud of her hair and tries to pat it perfectly just as her mother does, yet at school Mrs Stone asks her to neaten her ‘birds nest’. She gradually learns to hide, to be fitting for ‘a girl in green’. Through Grandma’s hair secrets and stories she finds the courage to face her fears and realise that her hair is a crown and not a burden. This book stands at the intersection of identity and beauty, celebrating how cultural pride is learned and passed on over the generations.