Laxmi's Mooch
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young Indian American girl's journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache.
Laxmi never paid much attention to the tiny hairs above her lip. But one day while playing farm animals at recess, her friends point out that her whiskers would make her the perfect cat. She starts to notice body hair all over--on her arms, legs, and even between her eyebrows.
With her parents' help, Laxmi learns that hair isn't just for heads, but that it grows everywhere, regardless of gender. Featuring affirming text by Shelly Anand and exuberant, endearing illustrations by Nabi H. Ali, Laxmi's Mooch is a celebration of our bodies and our body hair, in whichever way they grow.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Laxmi, a softly round Indian American girl with golden brown skin and two black braids, narrates this body hair–normalizing tale. When Laxmi's friends Zoe and Noah—a lanky blond and a plump yarmulke-wearing child—point out the "little hairs on your lip" during a game of animal make-believe, Laxmi hurries to the mirror. Suddenly self-conscious of her mooch—mustache in Hindi—Laxmi hides her upper lip, worries that kids are mocking her, and notices "hair all over my body": arms, eyebrows, knuckles, and legs. Arriving home, she's distraught—but her parents soon dispel her concerns with humor and heart. Debut author Anand's dialogue feels both genuine and gentle, incorporating Hindi with ease ("Nahi! You know, we come from a long line of women with moochay"). Warm, expressive digital illustrations by Ali (All the Way to the Top), meanwhile, feature a hijabi teacher and classmates with varying skin tones and hair textures. A joyfully affirmative picture book with a winning first-person point of view. Endpapers feature a Hindi-English picture glossary. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch Literary. Illustrator's agent: James Burns, the Bright Agency.
