People are attracted to and curious about Aria’s hair, which leads to hands reaching out to touch her hair without permission. The culprits come in all shapes and sizes, and as Aria flees, the human culprits are joined by a mermaid, octopus, monkeys, a dragon (“Girl, your hair is FIERCE!”) & a space alien. The only place where no one wants to touch her hair is a deserted island…where she gets lonely.
Whimsy and humor still allows for that necessary edge of discomfort, that the characters are so apparent in their desire to touch her hair without permission, reaching out a hand when her posture says no. And she shouldn’t have to go through her day avoiding hands, hiding her hair, or answering questions about her hair.

Miller and Aria call a halt to the nonsense—and we’re all grateful, empathizing with Aria. Aria declares her boundaries to the onlookers who look appropriately contrite and embarrassed. Miller then moves to model how healthy interactions look.

Miller offers an engaging energy in her color palette and expressively drawn heroine. Her message is also engaging in that it is encouraging and empowering—and important.

Wonderful book about personal boundaries. Humorous, bright, and fun illustrations. My six-year-old and I loved it.

A thorough lesson on why you should respect people's autonomy and personal space. As more and more people keep trying to touch the narrator's hair without permission, her frustration and anger is both clear and reasonable. A fantastic book for teaching kids to be empathetic and respectful!

As Black women, we often experience non-Blacks wanting to touch our hair. Whether it's an interest in the texture or the style, it can often feel like you are on display. This can make you feel uncomfortable and/or disrespected.

Personal boundaries are a difficult topic to navigate and this book helps with tackling this particular topic in a light-hearted but serious way. Aria learns that she can set boundaries and tell people (and animals!) in a firm yet polite way that she does not want them to touch her hair. It's also helpful in teaching us that we need to ask one's permission first and be comfortable hearing "no" if that is the answer given.