Storytime: The Black Hair Alphabet by Deborah A. Anderson

It’s Confetti Park Storytime! In this episode, we hear The Black Hair Alphabet, narrated by author and illustrator Deborah A. Anderson.

This is a children’s book that names different African-American hairstyles, from A-Z. Deborah’s illustrations, which she created digitally, showcase a terrific diversity of styles.

A is for Afro.
B is for Bantu Knot.
C is for Conk.

Deborah, who lives in New Orleans, is an animator and 3D artist by trade. She trained in Digital eMation in South Korea where she was a 3D Artist on shows such as Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Batman: The Brave and The Bold and Scooby Doo.

In an interview with the Mane Man blog, Deborah explained why she decided to explore black hairstyles from A-Z. “The original premise came from the fact that a lot of people who play video games, namely guys, are aggravated by lack of representation in hairstyles when making avatars,” explained Deborah. “It’s always dreads or an afro, maybe a low-cut. This is the beginning of my journey in figuring out black hair in a 3D space.”

Stay tuned for an in depth interview on Confetti Park where Deborah explores these ideas further, and talks about how video gaming is getting better in representing black hair.

Thank you so much Deborah for sharing The Black Hair Alphabet with Confetti Park!

You can order the book on Amazon.