Crown:
An Ode To The Fresh Cut
by Derrick Barnes, Gordon C. James (Illustrator)
DETAILS:
Publisher: Agate Bolden
Publication Date: October 10, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Length: 32 pg.
Read Date: August 29, 2026
What’s Crown About?
I’m just going to quote from author’s website here:
Crown: An Ode To The Fresh Cut is actually a poem I was inspired to write after seeing an illustration from one of my illustrator buddies (shout out to Don Tate!) of his teen son after a trip to the barber. It took me back to when I was a kid, and how sitting in that barber’s chair and receiving a dope haircut was probably the only place in the Black community where boys are treated like royalty. Still are. It’s a poem about self affirmation and how the world may not see your brilliance, or your beauty, but you do, and everyone around you that loves you can definitely see it, recognize it.
(I’d have quoted heavily from the author’s note at the end, but it’s better for the adult readers to take in after the book)
Let’s Talk about the Art for a Minute
Gordon James blew me away with this art. Each page is painted gorgeously (although some are two-page pieces). I don’t know what else to say—this is beyond my capability to describe, really.
You can see several samples on the artist’s webpage.
How is it to Read Aloud?
I’ve read plenty of Picture Books this year and this is hands-down one of the best.
The poem that Barnes wrote, slips off the tongue. The free verse just carries you along as you read—I think it works better if you read it aloud than silently. That’s the case for a lot of poetry, true, probably more so when it comes to poetry written for the picture book crowd.
So, what did I think about Crown?
I grant you, I don’t have the same relationship with a barber shop that it appears that many in the Black community do. But who hasn’t felt a certain amount of confidence after a new haircut? And how doesn’t like the pampering you get from a barber/stylist? I don’t get the full benefit of a straight-razor shave, but from the little I get, I think I’d be addicted to them if I didn’t have these shaggy whiskers.
Barnes captures that feeling perfectly—and accents it for the target audience just right. I’m not part of that audience in several ways, but I can appreciate it. If I were any part of the target? I’d be nuts about this.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
