Review by Booklist Review
From blow outs to teeny-weeny afros, all princess hair is good hair in Miller's bright, energetic ode to black girls and their hair. Here we find a cadre of princesses, all with varying crowns sitting atop even more varied stylings. It's clear Miller means to showcase the versatility of black hair: in color, texture and mood. The 'frohawked princesses rock out with their guitars, and those with puffs pretend to be robots and race-car drivers in costumes made from cardboard boxes. The text showcases each newly described hairstyle in bold, multicolor font. Each reveal is a celebration. Even the princesses napping in colorful head wraps seem to dream vividly in their prone positions. Much like bell hooks' Happy to Be Nappy (1999), there's no plot to speak of, but instead an impressive list of delightfully styled and affirming tresses and the hobbies that occupy their owners. Slightly older princesses interested in creating their own styles might find Joël Benjamin's Twists, Braids, and Ponytails (2017) a fun starting point on their own hair journeys.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this playful celebration of African American hair and hairstyles, Miller pairs her vivid watercolor illustrations with a lively text acknowledging the beautiful textural diversity in hair. Engaging in all types of activities, the "princesses" pictured in the book also represent a variety of skin tones, so nearly every curly-girl can find herself somewhere in its pages. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After decades of white princesses' domination of American fairy tales, Miller expands the vision of what princess hair can look like to black girls. Spread by double-page spread, the book highlights a multitude of diverse hairstyles while young girls play dress-up, all the while wearing their princess crowns. From twist outs to blowouts, dreadlocks to curls, Bantu knots to Afros, this is an all-out celebration of black hair. Deconstructing stereotypes, Miller takes the narrative beyond hair, portraying girls in their pretend play as young artists, thinkers, bakers, and even rock stars sporting a wide array of frohawks. The girls depicted in her ink-and-watercolor illustrations range in skin tone from dark brown to very light, and their hair ranges likewise from black to light brown and red. The text is simple, effectively a catalog of hairstyles, each one printed in capitalized and colored display type for emphasis. Some, though not all, lines play with internal rhyme: "Princesses with HEAD WRAPS take long naps. / Princesses with CURLS wear pearls. / And princesses with TEENY-WEENY AFROS wear teeny-weeny bows." A sweet and joyful affirmation of the truth that "NAPPY princesses are HAPPY princesses." (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
