Wanda

Meet Wanda with her beautiful head of hair. She is brave and strong, but she’s unhappy because of the endless teasing by the boys at school. After a particularly hard day at school, feeling confused, forlorn and hopeless, Wanda’s grandmother lets her in on a few secrets. Through these hair secrets and stories, she finds the courage to face her fears and realise that her hair is a crown and something to be proud of. This book stands at the intersection of identity and beauty, celebrating how cultural pride is learned and passed on over the generations. This book encourages young children to love themselves for what they are born with, despite what society may say or think.

Mathabo Tlali was born and bred in the Eastern Cape and has the yearning to understand and engage the thoughts and realities of others through various artistic and digital platforms. A thespian at heart, she is a practitioner who currently engages the form of contemporary performance in order to translate her ideas; writing, directing, physical performance and producing are her key areas of interest. She is currently completing her second undergraduate major in sociology at Rhodes University after completing her primary major, drama and performance studies. She seeks to explore intersectional ways of connectivity between the past, present and future more so pertaining to identity politics within the performance and academic space. Sihle Nontshokweni is a PhD candidate at KU Leuven. Her research is focused on the successes and failures of school desegregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Prior to that, she lived in China, completing a master’s at Peking University where she studied the aspirations of African migrant entrepreneurs living in Guangzhou, South of China. She has a deep interest in how racialised contexts affect identity and aspirations. Sihle is an avid reader, is passionate about creating positive content through YouTube and her personal blog sihlesapplecrunch.com. She is a lover of adventure and fitness, having completed a marathon and the popular Cape Cycle Tour. Chantelle and Burgen Thorne are internationally published illustrators with over 20 years’ experience in educational publishing. The two are now focusing on picture books for children with several more titles being released internationally this year, because the magic of children’s books is that they’re not just for kids. Avid bookworms themselves, they take great delight in the visual storytelling of picture books, art and text working together, every word and every image adding to the reader’s experience. Both have fond memories of being read to as children and this inspires them to make their illustrations as engaging, honest and relevant to young readers as they possibly can – what a wonderful way to spend one’s working day! They are represented by Paul Moreton of the fabulous Bell Lomax Moreton agency worldwide.

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