A Single Dreadlock

When Lovie moves from Jamaica to Newfoundland, his classmates make fun of his single dreadlock. But with Grandma's help, Lovie learns to care for his hair -- and himself.

Lovie never thought he looked different until he and his dads moved to Spruce Cove. Back in Jamaica, Grandma would tend Lovie's curls with her special hair-taming grease, but no one in Spruce Cove can manage his hair. Over the summer, it dreads in just one spot, and Lovie is quite happy about his single dreadlock...until the kids at school make fun of him.

When Grandma arrives for Chanukah, she sees that Lovie is upset. She explains that dreading is what their hair type does in its natural state, and she encourages him to love the way his hair grows. So Lovie goes from wanting to hide away his dreadlock, to asking his grandma if she will make his whole head full of dreads! Grandma takes out her hair grease and gets to work, and the next day Lovie proudly walks into class with his dreadlocks, and newfound confidence.

Xaiver Campbell's heartfelt story about finding the courage to be yourself and expressing your difference is beautifully complemented by the vibrant art of celebrated illustrator Eugenie Fernandes.

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

XAIVER MICHAEL CAMPBELL, from Kingston, Jamaica, has lived in St. John's, Newfoundland, for over a decade. His work has appeared in the Malahat Review, Riddle Fence and in the anthologies Us, Now and Best Canadian Stories 2024. He was nominated twice for the Journey Prize and named a Writers' Trust Rising Star. Xaiver co-authored Black Harbour: Slavery and the Forgotten Histories of Black People in Newfoundland and Labrador with Heather Barrett. A Single Dreadlock is Xaiver's debut picture book.

EUGENIE FERNANDES grew up painting with her father, a comic-book illustrator, and has become a celebrated artist in her own right, illustrating more than one hundred books and writing and illustrating twenty-five, including When Rabbit Was a Lion. Her illustrations for Earth Magic by Dionne Brand were nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award, and paintings from two of her books are in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Eugenie lives in Ontario.