Ayana's Story of Dada and the Peacock

By Fidell James

Little One has just finished her bath and now it's time to tackle her soft, curly, tangled locks every little girls dream, right? For Little One it is torture unimaginable as she kicks and screams while her mother dresses her hair. If only her hair was as smooth and straight as her big sister Ayana's. When mother leaves the room, Ayana attempts to console Little One with a story of a beautiful African girl who is also struggling with her own self-image. Little One is taken hundreds of years back to the ancient West African coast of Nigeria and meets a cast of friends who will teach her more than just to love her curly hair, but to also accept her for just who she is. As bed-time draws near, it is Amari who has yet one more lesson to teach Little One.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462897889

Book preview

Ayana’s Story of

Dada and the Peacock

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Fidell James

Copyright © 2011 by Fidell James.

ISBN:                        Hardcover                       978-1-4990-1856-1

                                  Softcover                         978-1-4628-9787-2

                                  Ebook                              978-1-4628-9788-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 05/06/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

592839

Contents

1   I Don’t Want My Hair Braided

2   Beauty Is

3   The Rabbit and the Pond

4   Mother’s Words of Wisdom

Reaction Questions

Glossary

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1

I Don’t Want My Hair Braided

O UCH! LITTLE ONE said making a face, don’t pull so hard! Little One was sitting in between her mother’s legs while her mother was combing her hair.

Every Saturday night, Little One’s sensitive scalp goes through the usual procedures of being massaged and scrubbed as her hair bounces with the waves in her bathtub during her bath. After a good wash, Momma lures Little One to join her in the living room to finish her weekly hair ritual. When Little One fusses, as often time she will, Momma brings in her teddy to keep her calm.

Everything seemed like it was going to be a normal Saturday night, until Little One noticed her sister, Ayana, sitting on the sofa across from her.

Child, you need to be still. Let me finish braiding your hair, Little One’s mother said as she stuck a comb down the parted side of the middle of Little One’s hair and started braiding the other.

Little One wiggled and squirmed in between her mother’s legs. She was huffing and