Natalie's Hair Was Wild!: A Delightful Story About Untamed Hair and Animal Friends for Kids

by Laura Freeman

Natalie's hair is really wild—and she likes it that way! A host of friendly animals agree, and they move right in. At first it's just butterflies and birds that take up residence atop Natalie's head, but soon there are zebras, elephants, even a tiger! With all the roaring and squawking and snorting and burping, poor Natalie can hardly sleep. She needs to find someone to help coax those critters out . . . but who?

Inspired by the author's own childhood adventures with her hair, this playful fantasy will delight all girls and boys who resist having their tresses tamed.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Storytime, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 2, 2018

About the author

Laura Freeman is a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honoree. She has illustrated more than thirty books for children, including the New York Times bestseller Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, two sons, two cats, and a fish.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Shamekia]

Problematic af.

I was so excited when I saw the cover of this, but then with the turn of each page found myself let down.

PROS: The illustrations are adorable. I love how Natalie's hair gets bigger as the story progresses.

CONS: The story is meh. Like other reviewers I was expecting an "I love my hair" kind of book, but then discovered it's supposed to be a funny book, but it wasn't. I was disturbed to see the page depicting the fire department washing her hair with a fire hose. Anybody that knows about the Civil Rights movement should see how messed up this imagery can be.

This reminds me of Crazy Hair, by Neil Gaiman, which is in essence the same book, but featuring white characters. It feels like that's what Laura Freeman was going for: a lighthearted and funny story about a child's wild hair. I get it-children from all backgrounds can have wild hair (no matter the skin color). And there are plenty of picture books about the same topic (I've done a Hair-themed storytime before). HOWEVER, I bristled when I saw the animals, the water hose, the rakes and hedge clippers. This book missed the mark.

[Aliza Werner]

I was hoping to read about a free-spirited girl who had "free-spirited" hair, but the message behind the story is worrisome. Natalie's hair "couldn't be tamed" and "made a fine nest" for birds, and eventually a whole zoo of animals. Firefighters help to rid her hair of all of the animals, and then "raked through the knots and trimmed her hair with huge hedge scissors". Her hair is then obviously braided into cornrows at the end. The book resolves by Natalie "learning" that she needs to brush, comb, and wash it to keep "it neat". I take issue with this depiction of black girl hair being dirty and untamed, and others needing to help her tame her hair in order to appear clean. For further reading, check out an #ownvoices take here: https://blavity.com/amp/why-every-boo....

[Christie Angleton]

Yiiiiiikes. So problematic.

[Telliey]

Beautiful and also misleading cover. Seeing Natalie’s hair on the cover lured us in expecting a tale of the awesomeness of textured hair. Instead we are presented with the idea that her hair is just “too much” and needs to be tamed. Disappointed to say the least and sad to have let my daughter read this. She has a great deal of hair but she sees too many images of her hair being a nuisance rather than he crowning glory it is.

[Sierra]

I read this book twice, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the content, but I see why it's so controversial. The animals living in her hair may have been a poor choice, but the message behind it was something that I could relate to myself. As a little black girl, getting your hair done was an ordeal, and something I avoided any chance that I could. I think this mark slightly missed the mark on getting the message across clearly, but it was there.

[Jillian]

I'm really not yet sure what to think about this. Was not at all what I was expecting, but I'm feeling unsettled by it. I'll be waiting to see what others, who see their own representation in this story, have to say.
ETA: For more perspective, read Aliza's review and this post from a reviewer who was asked to tone down her critique "Why Every Book Made for Our Black Girls Ain't a Good Book",that emphasizes the damaging representation this book presents.

[Alia]

I can see why this book is getting flack. If you look at it within the context of black girls, black hair and a long, emotional history of being made to feel like our hair isn't straight enough, good enough, CLEAN enough....this book is very tone deaf. That being said, it's a visually pretty book. This kind of book makes me wonder if there were women of color involved in the production of this picture book.

[Claudia]

Two stars for the illustrations and the representation of Natalie's hair. There aren't enough characters with Natalie's hair type as protagonists. I'm not so sure about the direction this story went. I was expecting a book about praising your natural hair texture but instead I got a zoo. So it was meh for me personally.

[Urbandale Library]

This fun and lyrical picture book tells the story of Natalie and how she likes to let her hair grow wild until one day - she has a whole zoo living in her hair! A charming story filled with beautiful photos and a little girls love of her wild hair. Highly recommended for children and adults who like to live on the wild side!

[Kris]

Yikes. This is a mess. Which is sad because the illustrations are adorable. But telling this little Black girl that her natural hair is not acceptable and needs to be tamed is a gross message. Seriously, don't read this one. Go read Hair Love or I Love my Hair instead of a white lady telling Black girls that their wild hair is unacceptable.

[Edward Sullivan]

Silly story that will most likely be appreciated by readers who have untamable hair.

[Chika]

My daughter giggled a lot as I read this to her 🤭 As I speak Igbo to her, naturally, I translated the text to Igbo. It's a cute story with a nice ending.

[Whitney]

Instead of being a celebration of black hair, this book is about a host of animals taking up residence in a young girl's messy hair. I went from hopeful to skeptical when I read the jacket summary. Then I flipped to the back to see that the author is, in fact, white and felt even more concerned. I can't imagine sending a worse message to girls who are already teased for having "dirty" or "messy" hair.

Try Princess Hair or Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut instead.

[Jennifer Brinkmeyer]

It looked like it was going to be cute and empowering, but it was not. Natalie's hair was wild (great!). But then all these animals start moving into it (feels like a critique on natural hair hygiene). Then the fire department and animal control come to get out the animals. There is a picture with 5 white men washing out her hair. It says that she learned to keep her hair smooth and clean (yikes).

A week later, it's wild again, which is supposed to be a cute twist ending, like "kids never learn," but I felt uncomfortable with this one.

[Michelle]

I love the pretext for this book. A Celebration of Hair! The main character, Natalie, is cute, happy and her features are appropriately drawn. However, once the text begins to say "Natalie didn't care," her facial expression doesn't fit. She actually looks like she DOES care. She cuts her eyes, isn't smiling or carrying on with her activities. Another issue is the use of fire hoses to wash Natalie's hair. Old news clips of people being subdued through the use of fire hoses are still vivid in my mind and I'm not THAT old. In the end, Natalie's hair wasn't celebrated so much as controlled and dealt with.

Nice try Ms. Freeman. Maybe the next book can be a bit more celebratory of Natalie's hair.

Audience: K-3
Connection: zoo animals, animal sounds
NOTE: If I had this in my library I would NOT use it as a read-aloud

[Renee]

I understand this book is controversial because of the idea of good hair/bad hair in our (black) community and how people have an idea that the curls and coils of our hair is bad. But I really liked this book. As a mother and aunt of tenderheaded children who don't want their head touched I could see myself reading this book to them as I was doing their hair. I can see how some might feel the book is about how our hair is unruly, therefore bad but I didn't take it that way. I respect the discussion some black people might feel about the book but I think it's cute and I look forward to reading it to my grandnieces and grandnephews one day if I can do their hair.

[Debbie Tanner]

When I read this book, I thought it was hilarious. A little girl has hair so wild that animals take refuge in it and eventually she needs (a lot of) help getting it back under control. There has been some controversy that books should not be showing representations of women and girls of color and needing to tame them. But as a woman who has the straightest hair on the block (not MY choice), I've also felt that sometimes even my hair needs to be tamed, so I identified completely with Natalie and I was really jealous of her beautiful hair. I think this one will be a popular check out in my library because it's funny.

[Lorie]

When Natalie stops caring for her hair, wild animals move in and eventually take over. At first, she enjoys the freedom of not grooming everyday but eventually the noise created by her guests becomes too much to bear. Will Natalie ever get them to come out?

Children who struggle with not liking their hair taken care of will find empathy with Natalie and her situation. Colorful digital illustrations add to the charm of this sweet story. I would recommend this book for purchase by any public library.

This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Kimberlee]

At first I gave this the benefit of the doubt and assumed there was some miscommunication between the author and the illustrator, but then I noticed that the author is the illustrator and my review dropped a star. It seems like the author legit has unruly hair from her author picture, but I am unsure why they illustrations are so tone deaf. I love the art style and the story is sort of cute, but it does seem to push the idea that natural hair is bad. Maybe I'm overthinking this? 2/5 stars

[Rachel Deboer]

I was really hoping for a book that was educational about what it is like to grow up as a black girl with black hair. I wanted something educational and also hopeful about the beauty of natural/free hair. This book was none of those things. I think the message the author intended was that it's important to take care of your hair, but the stronger message I received was that unruly hair (especially black hair) must be tamed and unnatural to be acceptable.

[Chloe]

I would never in a million years buy this for my black daughter.

seriously so problematic. I get that she based this book on her childhood experiences with her 'wild curly hair' but she doesn't have 'wild curly' 4c hair like Natalie, so why make the main character a black girl?
to sell books.
because they're trying to up diversity without actually being culturally sensitive.

not here for it Laura.

[Diana]

This book was such a let-down. I have a niece with wild hair, and I was thinking this would be good for her. But it wasn't about having wild hair and loving it just the way it is. The book was, instead, about being well-groomed. What the heck? I'm super disappointed, because the illustrations were good and we need more protagonists with awesome hair. But this? Well, this wasn't it. So disappointed...

[Anne]

I really wanted to like this book, and I enjoyed the illustrations. However, I agree with the reviews that say the message is worrisome. I wish there was more of a point made about embracing your identity; I really had been hoping for a celebration of this child's identity. This felt, in parts, shaming rather than rejoicing.

[SL]

I'm not sure about this one. I think the illustrations are beautiful but how the story dealt with the little girl's hair...It gave me mixed feelings. I could see the humor of her hair growing bigger and bigger and how the other characters and animals reacted to it. But it implied a weird, underlying message of having to "tame" the girl's hair. Idk. Not my cup of tea.

[Sheri]

This is another story about hair and African American hair in particular. Reminds me of the book "Don't Touch My Hair". Natalie does not mind that her hair is wild and won't hold a style or pins, she lets all sorts of birds and animals nest in it. And finally the zoo of animals has to be removed and Natalie learns to take care of it or does she?

[Stephanie]

I would have liked the book to mention her hair was beautifully messy and amazingly so not something to “worry what the world thinks.” Her hair is a wonderful part of her to be celebrated. The book didn’t flow very well. I wasn’t expecting animals in the hair or the fire department….
My daughter liked that her name was in the book and loved the drawings of the little girl.

[Alivia DiTullio]

Personally, I thought this story could have been better and I don't think I would keep it in my class. The idea presented was not well done and alludes Natalie's hair needs to be "managed" instead of embracing it as we should encourage young girls to do. This story could send the wrong message to kids and I would suggest reading other stories to promote self positivity.

[Gray Gray]

I think this book is great at showing that hair that is wild and hard to manage can be a good thing instead of a bad thing and is sends girls messages to embrace their hair and who they are. I also like the story and how it uses animals going into her hair as funny and appealing to younger kids. I really liked this book and I want it in my classroom!

[Alicia]

It's supposed to be a funny book about a girl who has animals, hence the "wild" in the title, that get lost in her hair that have to be chased away and hosed out by the fire department, but instead it's as problematic as all of the other reviews have shared for it's imagery and focus: instead of celebrating hair, it needs to be tamed in all the wrong ways.

[S]

Natalie's hair is so wild she had a tiger in it and needed zoo keepers to help her out! Oh dear. I kinda wanted her to keep her hair wild but this was a book that ultimately encourages taming hair - at least for awhile.

I'll keep my tiger hair.