Which books for young readers are you excited about now? BWB: Representation in children’s books is finally becoming a bigger part of the publishing conversation. Never in a million years did we think it would be an official book, but now we’re here. We started a Kickstarter campaign a few years back for an animated short film and my manager Monica Young suggested that we offer a picture book as one of the Kickstarter gifts. Cherry: My role was as the creator of the project, writer and co-director of the short film, and the writer of the book.

When I knew it was going to be a picture book I really wanted to make sure it felt different from an animated film, almost like a classic picture book with lots of textures. I wanted to focus on the relationship between father and daughter and of course the hair, so I let everything else fall away-no major details in the background to distract from their story. Vashti Harrison: I originally did some visual development work for the 'Hair Love' Kickstarter campaign, so I designed the characters with the short film in mind. Nowadays, he's an author and filmmaker-and was named to Paste Magazine's list of Directors to Watch in 2016. Matthew will be joined by our friend (and Bookworm Festival 2019 alum) Vashti Harrison, who illustrated the book and provided character art for the short film.Ĭheck out our Q&A with the creators, then be sure to head to our events calendar for the details-we're looking forward to seeing you!īlue Willow Bookshop: Matthew and Vashti, congratulations on your new book-we love it! How did you decide to adapt the animated film 'Hair Love' into a picture book? Can you each tell us about your roles in bringing the story from idea to film to book? Cherry, to the shop on May 21! You may remember Matthew from his time as a wide receiver in the NFL. It's a sweet and empowering story, and we can't wait to share it with you. What's more, we're absolutely thrilled to welcome the author, Matthew A. Adapted from the animated short film of the same name, the book is a celebration of fathers and daughters-and an ode to loving your natural hair. Friends, have you seen the charming new picture book gracing our display this week? It's called Hair Love.

Hair love by matthew cherry summary