Bintou's Braids - Softcover

Diouf, Sylvianne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811846296 ISBN 13: 9780811846295

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2004

Synopsis

Bintou wants braids. Long, pretty braids, woven with gold coins and seashells, just like her older sister and the other women in her family. But she is too young for braids. Instead, all she has are four little tufts of hair; all she ever gets are cornrows. However, when Bintou saves the lives of her two young cousins and is offered a reward of her choosing, Bintou discovers that true beauty comes in many different forms. Rich, earthy illustrations and a heartwarming story capture the spirit of a West African village in this wise tale about a girl who learns she's perfect just the way she is.

About this title

From the Author:

I have published several books and articles as a historian, but one day, as I took my daily stroll in the park, a story came to my mind. It was the first time since I created tales for my son, so many years ago. I felt a wonderful freedom when I wrote Bintou's Braids. I did not work with real events or people, for a change, so I could make up incidents, characters, include dreams, and end the story any way I saw fit. But I also wanted to be true to the spirit and culture of the Senegalese people I was writing about, so I drew upon my observations and studies.

The strength of the family, the importance of the community, and the respect for the elders inspired me. I have always been charmed by the grace of the Senegalese women, their vitality and their elegance. They wear beautiful, complicated hairstyles, but little girls have plain cornrows or the simplest of braids without any decoration. The women told me it is only when girls are older and become wiser that they too can have elaborate braids. They have to earn them.
I love the idea of having to take the time to be a child, to wait for something instead of always getting it immediately. That what inspired this story.

About the Author:

Dr. Sylviane A. Diouf is an award-winning author of scholarly books and has written several books for children. She has lived in France, Senegal, Gabon and Italy and presently lives in New York where she is a Curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Shane W. Evans is a fine artist and illustrator who lives in Missouri. Besides showing his work in galleries internationally, he has illustrated four other children's books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0811846296
• ISBN 13: 9780811846295
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Evans Shane