The first thing that intrigues the reader about the book is its title, ‘I won’t wash my hair’. The title has the choice of ‘would not’ over ‘do not’. I ‘will not’ is about agency and choice. The cover follows the curiosity of the title. It shows a girl with rainbows of leaves, flowers and even ants!
Some days, we are lazy. So lazy that we don’t want to wash our hands, get out of bed, cook, or play. Some winter Sundays, we don’t want to bathe. Have you or someone you know ever skipped bathing for weeks? What do you think happens to the body? A friend tried it and told us that tiny brown insects began to crawl on his body when he didn’t bathe for two weeks. When he told us this, we started imagining lice-like creatures growing between his toenails and on the insides of his elbows. To be honest, it was too gross. Your teachers, parents, scientists, and books will tell you that if you don’t bathe, bacteria and fungi will grow, and infections will abound. Itches and rashes would make the skin scratchy. And the worst would be body odour. I won’t Wash My Hair explores the nuances of these social and scientific norms.