Can I Touch Your Hair?
Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship

ISBN: 978-1512404425


Co-written with Charles Waters
Illustrations by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko
Now available in the UK from Oneworld
Now available as an Audiobook




Can I Touch Your Hair? Discussion Guide

  • 2020-21 William Allen White Children's Book Award Grades 3-5 Master List

  • 2019 White Ravens selection

  • Featured Title, 2019 Ultimate List of Diverse Children's Books

  • 2020 Blue Hen Book Award (Delaware Library Association) nominee

  • 2018 Nerdy Book Club Best Poetry Book

  • 2018 Cybils Poetry Finalist

  • Kirkus Reviews'Best Middle-Grade Book of 2018

  • 2019 NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Book

  • 2019 NCTE Notable Poetry Book

  • Best New Friendship Books
  • 2018 Book all Young Georgians Should Read
  • 2018 Girls of Summer Reading List
  • 100 Progressive Books for Children
  • NEA 2019 Read Across America poster
  • 2019 ALA Notable Children's Book
  • 2019-20 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award title for grades 3-6
  • Michigan Reading Association Great Lakes Great Books Award 2019-2020 title
  • 2019-2020 Beehive Award nominee (Children's Literature Association of Utah)

  • Book Riot's 8 Great Picture Books about Friendship

    "one of the best titles of a work of poetry that we've seen in years."
    - Betsy Bird, Fuse #8 Production

    Gallery of Readers' Art and Poems Inspired by the Book

    Find out more:
    Kirkus Fully Booked podcast "Irene Latham and Charles Waters"

    The Horn Book Magazine "Exploring Race, Mistakes and Friendship Through Poetry" with Roger Sutton

    Travis Jonker - The Yarn "We knew we had to lay it all out there"

    "A fresh approach to exploring interracial communication...a brave and touching portrayal worthy of sharing in classrooms across America."
    - Kirkus STARRED REVIEW

    "The poems delicately demonstrate the complexity of identity and the power of communication to build friendships."
    - Publisher's Weekly STARRED REVIEW

    "Young readers searching for means to have difficult, emotional, and engaged discussions about race will find an enlightening resource in Irene and Charles'explorations."
    - Booklist

    "...a beautifully direct yet somehow outstandingly subtle work that will allow young readers to navigate and understand their places in their communities and the greater world."
    - Shelf Awareness

    "This volume would make an excellent read-aloud or a launch pad for collaborative classroom writing."
    - The Horn Book Magazine



    See Irene and her CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? co-author Charles Waters read and perform poetry!