I think that’s something we don’t often find in picture books. This has resulted in a series of images that, indeed, look like real people, not only because of the finish the oil provides but because James has taken care to create faces that are unique in their own shape, contour, emotions, and skin tone. He achieves this effect by using real people as his models. In describing his work in a recent conversation with Mel Schuit, James talks about wanting his oil-based portraits to look like photos. As the narrative voice gives him reason to visit this chair often and to always be his best, we’re provided images of Black men of various hues, some of whom look directly at us, while others savor a moment of self-satisfaction. Our hero, this “lump of clay,” almost fades into the background of the shop’s floor, as he approaches his princely throne.

James’s artwork brings life to Barnes’s words. We have to understand the history here - that this space existed as one of the few public spaces where Black men could freely express their manhood and where they could stand straight, look a man in the eye, speak clearly, laugh, tell inside jokes and, for just a moment, be free of fear. He’s claiming his story, while inviting us inside to a tale happening in the barbershop, one of the most revered spaces of African American manhood. There he is with his sly, side-eye glance, though really he looks directly at us. That guy on the first page of the book takes away any reason for fear. To see this picture book that celebrates African American men is really quite remarkable. We searched for books and found very few of them. This was made evident to me several years ago by a white co-worker searching for picture books featuring Black men to read to her young niece, who had expressed a fear of Black men. If you take the time to look through picture books from the United States, you’ll find how rare it is to see an image of a Black man. As indicated visually on the cover, this crown belongs to the men. The title of the book plays on the old adage that a woman’s hair is her crown. It finally brings us a new book (and the first picture book) from Derrick Barnes, an author of both young adult books and early readers.

Crown an ode to a fresh cut