I was sent a copy of the book for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
I am so happy to be sharing this book with you today on its launch! Please do check it out as I think it is a book you will really enjoy. The book is all about a little girl who can transport herself to wherever she wants to go in her imagination because of her incredible magic comb. The book was inspired by the authors two daughters who found it so hard to find books that represented them.
I’ve mentioned before that myself and my kids are bookworms and something I try to do is keep our bookshelves diverse – featuring books with a variety of characters from different races, different genders, different classes. I do the same with the authors I read too – I like to read from a variety of different people and I think everyone should have diverse bookshelves.
I talked to the author about the lack of multicultural books within the publishing and literacy world – it really is not good enough. This is why I was super excited to see this book with a dual heritage lead. Shockingly publishers said that they loved the book but it wouldn’t sell because of the dual heritage lead – this really saddens me. So the author and her team started a Kickstarter and they were extremely successful, completely exceeding their goal.
I loved this quote from the team – We truly believe that children’s books should represent ALL children and as mums, women, parents, people we should represent. This is something I truly believe too.
About The Book
Lily and the magic comb is a wonderful enchanting book written by V V Brown and illustrated by Kate Hazell. The book is an adventurous journey of discovery and identity where the lead character transports herself to anywhere she wants to go within her imagination because of a magical comb. With its eye popping unique illustrations and charming rhyming the book seeks to inspire and represent a space of confidence for children who are often not represented in children’s literature.
V V wrote the book out of frustration because she found that there needed to be more children of colour within books and that children’s books were such a powerful and beautiful way for all children to see versions of themselves it was important for it to be a lot more diverse.. With V V ‘s usual independent ethic she set up her own Woke Kidz Publishing house after being told by bigger publishing houses “children characters of colour were a niche market.”
A kickstarter campaign was born and the campaign exceeded their budget four times over. The overwhelming amount of support meant they were able to make the book come to life. Alongside her husband, Daniel Price, who is a well know art director and illustrator Kate hazell they carved out something magical and wonderful for all to read.
My Review
What can I say? This is a beautiful tale of Lily and her magic comb. She goes on such an adventure and the tale is thrilling – the illustrations from Kate Hazell also add to the exciting tale. Olivia is loving books like this at the moment – lots of adventure, beautiful illustrations and rhyming. Rhyming keeps her attention in a kids book right now and she listened intently to this book before asking to read it again….and again…and again!
Lily is such a fun character and it is truly lovely to see a character with a dual heritage being the lead. All too often characters such as this end up being a sidekick character or one that fades into the background and that’s not good enough. Everyone deserves representation and it warms my heart that there will be lots of little girls that can see themselves in Lily and relate to her.
Overall, this is a wonderful book that should be on every child’s bookshelves. It has a great story, it has great pictures, it conveys a message and it truly is lovely. Be sure to pick a copy up!
About The Author
V V Brown is a multi-platinum selling musician. In 2015 she took a break from the music industry to have her two children. During her time as a new mother she decided to write a children’s book reacting to the lack of diversity within the children book sector. Lily and the magic comb was born and is an inspiring adventure about imagination, confidence and identity.
You can buy the book here on Amazon here {affiliate link} or from Woke Kidz Books here (for a signed copy!).
This book sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I had a magic comb to actually detangle my step daughters hair!
The illustrations look brilliant x
It’s great to see more books that are more diverse and represent everyone. I agree with above though! I’d love a magic comb!! Way less tangles!!!
This sounds like a lovely book, with gorgeous illustrations. Myself and my kids are bookworms too and are always looking for new things to read.
This sounds like a really lovely kids book. I really like the look of the illustrations, they are really well done and colourful.
Sounds like a great book! I swear books these days for kids are FAR more imaginative than in my day!
What a brilliantly diverse book and such a lovely story line. A magic comb has to be the most genius object I’ve seen a storyline based around for a long time.
Love the book and I like the mix of illustration with rhyme. This will make a lovely stocking filler for my friends little girl x
This sounds like a really lovely book. It seems to be visually stimulating too which is ideal for kids.
Thos book looks ace very bright and colourful which is great,my boyslove reading
Love this book, I am sure we could all do with a magic comb at some time.
Magic! Adventures! Rhyming story, colourful illustrations, important relevant theme/s :- Self Acceptance, Confidence and Identity.
Sounds like a great modern book.
Sounds like such a lovely book! My four would love it, especially my 6yo 🙂