Photo Courtesy of TaylorMade Publishing, Inc (Fair Use)
12-Year-old Aiden Taylor was looking for something to do during the COVID-19 pandemic and ended up writing his book, “Me and My Afro.”
The story celebrates uniqueness and self-love, which Taylor wrote after getting made fun of for his hairstyle.
“I used to go back to my mom every day after school and was like, ‘Why do people tease my afro?'” Taylor
said.“I wanted to write this book about my afro because mostly I just wanted kids to love themselves and love the way that they are.”
Aiden approached his mother with the idea during the pandemic. He wrote the book, and she published it in August 2020.
“Everybody likes it. Even the people who teased my Afro really likes it,” Aiden said.
“Me and My Afro” follow all the adventures Aiden and his favorite hairstyle take together, from riding the bus to playing basketball. Taylor says the book gives kids “something to do [at home] — and who doesn’t want to learn about self-love?”
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“Hi, my name’s Aiden… and I have a really big afro,” the book starts. “Me and my afro go everywhere together… we go to the library together, we go to the store together.”
“I love my Afro. It makes me different, and it makes me me, and I love me,” Taylor said.
His mother says some children don’t know what the hairstyle is, so the book offers many teachable moments.
His two books combined, “Me and My Afro”
and “Me and My Afro: When I Grow Up,” have already sold about 10,000 copies.Taylor says it was the death of one of his idols, Kobe Bryant, which made him want to work harder and start writing books. He says it’s the “mamba mentality” and believes Bryant would think it was a significant accomplishment.