Q&A: Tanya Wright, Ed.M.'22

When Tanya Wright, Ed.M.’22, saw her book, Hairiette of Har­lem: The Great Birthday Surprise, for sale at a Target store for the first time last fall, she didn’t hoot or holler. Instead, she says, the moment was quiet but still very profound. “Seeing the book on the shelf was evidence of what I had worked on for years. The book was my thought made real, just like Hairiette makes her thoughts real,” she says. “Seeing the book on the shelf reminded me of the power we all have to use our imaginations and create real things that live outside of our­selves. It was powerful.” Recent­ly, Wright talked to Ed. about the new chapter book, the larger Hairiette literacy world she creat­ed that revolves around a 7-year-old girl with magic hair, and why this graduate of the Learning De­sign, Innovation, and Technology Program and an iLab finalist stays grounded in the field by visiting schools with a puppet. 

Before Hairiette of Harlem came out, you also wrote a picture book?
Yes, Goodnight, Hairiette is the prequel to Hairiette of Harlem: The Great Birthday Surprise. There are cliffhangers at the end of Good­night, Hairiette, the answers to which can only be found in the slightly more advanced chapter book, and that also has a 24-min­ute puppet musical and a reading curriculum that focuses on pho­nics. That picture book was re­ally inspired by [then-Professor] Chris Dede’s class on motivation and engagement, which I believe is at the root of the — I’ll put this in quotes — “reading achieve­ment issues” that people are very concerned with. I think that we should be more concerned with motivation and engagement. 

The Hairiette stories are fun but also based on learning. 
Yes. Hairiette has a learning op­portunity, something that she kind of fumbles in her real life. Hasty Hairiette is always in a hurry. Hairiette’s big flaw is that she wants to live life. She’s 7 but wants to be 10. I know that when I was 10, I was angling to be 13. She gets herself in a little bit of a jam because of her impatience so she goes to this place called Magic Nation, which is her imag­ination. There she meets her magic friends, Charlie the Comb and Barbara the Barrette, and they work out whatever calamity she has created in her life. This is all going on in her imagination. When she comes back out of her imagination, into her waking life, she gets another chance to do the thing that she fumbled. So it’s re­ally about learning, right?

An edtech company that offers online courses for educators recently reached out? 
Yes, a company called fobizz saw some of my Hairiette stuff online and said, hey, we see how pas­sionate you are about children and learning and education. Is there a course that you would like to create for teachers? I was so excited because I have been wanting to do this. So I created a course called Storytelling and Multi-Modal Curricula for Early Learners. I walk teachers through how I created book, the puppet musical, and the accompanying curriculum and how they can also create multi-modal curriculum for their early learners. 

How many chapter books will eventually be written? 
The first, Hairiette of Harlem: The Great Birthday Surprise, is out in Target now. The second, Trouble at the Hair Salon, is coming out in June and the third will be in Tar­get this September. I’ve got 30 Hairiette chapter books all ready to go. I also want to write anoth­er series called School Time Hair­iette that is focused on different subjects, like science, math, social studies, and art. 

What’s your favorite part of doing this work? 
My most favorite thing of all is vis­iting schools. There’s nothing like that. It makes it all make sense for me. And, also, I have been enjoy­ing connecting with educators and parents. In many ways, Hair­iette is like a triangle. The child is at the top and anchoring the child are the educators and the parents and caregivers. I’m really interest­ed in that trifecta. I went to Har­vard thinking that I would just create things for children because [laughing] adults were trouble­some. And, boy, I did a complete turnaround on that whole con­cept. It was quite humbling. Now the adults are integral parts of everything that I think about and create for Hairiette.

Why is it important for you to visit schools and libraries and be with students? 
Two things. It’s the thing that has given me the most joy and then also, I’m learning. I’m still learn­ing what people need. And I don’t get that information unless I am out in the world and I ask peo­ple what they think and I’m see­ing how they respond. For me, it’s a continual learning opportunity. 

Is there anything you’ve changed after being out in the field, seeing how people respond to your work? 
One thing that I adjusted is the puppet musical. I made this 24-minute Goodnight, Hairiette puppet musical as a film. I go to libraries and schools and muse­ums, and I show the puppet mu­sical, but a new thing that I do now is I physically bring the Hair­iette puppet into the space with children. It’s like, wow! There’s something that goes off for the students. They look at me like, did you make that? Could I make something like that? I say, yes, ab­solutely. And that’s been revelato­ry for me.