Sabine Bellevue knew what it meant when she watched her grandmother grab the Dax pomade off the counter – it was wash day. The author, salon owner, and veteran hair stylist is celebrating that wash day tradition with her recently released children’s book, Shampoo Day With Grandma.
It walks little readers and their parents through the ritual day by telling the story of Bellevue and her granddaughter Madison, the book’s inspiration.
“Having two granddaughters propelled me to create a children’s book to help other children,” Bellevue says. She wanted to help them find joy in the experience, as she did with her own grandmother. The two would spend quality time together during the process, an occasion that fed her strands and her spirit. “It was a lovely experience,” she recalls.
Madison and her little sister Angelica are getting that now from Bellevue, which comes to life in the book’s vivid illustrations. What takes it from feeling like a chore for the girls is bath toys —a trick grandparents, parents, and caregivers can use to make the hair-washing process more fun.
“It should be a pleasant experience having your hair done,” she says. “I’ve often heard people complaining about their experiences in the past of having their mom, maybe pulling their hair or tugging at their hair, or not having a good experience at a salon. I want the experience of touching and getting your hair combed and shampooed to be a relaxing experience, a loving experience.”
“It’s about self-care as well,” she adds. “It shouldn’t be a time of tears, and frustration, it should be more of a pleasurable and memorable moment.”
Bellevue wanted the character in the book to reflect her granddaughter’s lived experiences and appearance. “I wanted her to see herself in the book,” she says. It was a four-year process to develop illustrations from a photo shoot. “I had someone come in and, as a matter of fact, take pictures of us doing the whole process.”
Bellevue doesn’t just turn wash day into an opportunity to teach her granddaughters to care for themselves. She uses it to tether Madison and Angelica to their Haitian heritage. “Me and Madison, as well as Angelica, usually do a weekly thing with washing hair,” she says. In the process, the girls receive lessons in Creole. Shampoo Day With Grandma continues that tradition, featuring Creole phrases and translations as well. It introduces the language in a fun and nuanced way. There’s even a complete glossary at the back of the book.
“It’s about bonding and connecting,” says Bellevue. “Seeing that light in her face when she’s able to say something in Creole in connection with what she has learned from me, is the best.”
Research shows that active learning is more effective than standard lecturing. It helps with memorization. “You’re able to connect the experience with what you’re saying and what you’re doing, so it’s more interactive,” she shares.
Shampoo Day With Grandma also features a guided manual to help caregivers learn how to properly shampoo textured hair. Amateur tutorials are all over the internet, but expert advice is still a must. She acknowledged that a lot of the information available online doesn’t present “the best options.”
She continues, “I still have people coming into my salon asking for help and needing more of a professional opinion and assistance. I’m glad to be able to do that as well as still inform people in other ways.”
Now, the book allows her to give advice to many people at once, across different generations.
“I added a guide component to it for the parents,” she says. After 25 years with a brick-and-mortar salon in Brooklyn, she’s heard every perspective on hair. “I find clients tend to tell me, adult clients, that they did not get the experience of understanding how to manage their hair at an early age.”
She adds, “This, too, can help everyone. I really want it to be able to. It’s not a guide just only for you to take care of your children’s hair. As long as you have hair and you have textured hair, the book can also help you.”
The work encourages caregivers to speak life into children by affirming them while caring for their hair. It represents her commitment to using haircare as a means of empowerment.
“I believe that if we teach our younger generation how to manage, and love and care for their hair at an early age, that becomes a habit,” Bellevue says. “They’ll be more confident. And then it will continue throughout their life.”
Shampoo Day With Grandma is available on Amazon.
