Celebrating red heads

Celebrating red heads Image

There are the names (carrot top), the myths (looming extinction), the quirks (more novocaine, please) and the superstitions (fiery tempers).

Mostly, though, there is the inevitable question: So, where did you get that red hair?

"Duh," while biologically logical, isn't necessarily the best answer, because many red-haired kids are born to moms and dads of the blond and brunette persuasion. New parents may be as surprised as anyone to be cradling a copper top.

Ten-year-old Selena Brills has a ready answer: "I got it from my Irish grandma," she says, her shoulders shrugging beneath a glorious mane of auburn hair. She's among seven Minnesota kids featured in "Little Redheads Across America" (littleredheadsacrossamerica.com, $30), by Nicole Giladi, a California mom caught off guard by the attention her red-haired son received wherever they went.

Giladi began researching redheads and met other parents dealing with the attention and occasional travails visited upon a child whose hair resembles a bonfire. The resulting book is meant to provide red-haired kids with the sense that they're not alone, even though it sometimes feels that way.

Consider: Only 1 to 2 percent of the world's population have red hair. The United States actually has the largest population of redheads, with 6 million to 12 million, or 2 to 6 percent. But that range indicates the nuances within the recessive red-hair gene, from pale strawberry blond to a mahogany auburn like Selena's.

"We get stopped in Target by people asking if I dye her hair," said Selena's mother, Patty Brills, rolling her eyes at the idea of dyeing a fourth-graders' hair. "I mean, really?" Selena's hair was red from the first moment, "a little cinnamony strand that then came in with a vengeance." The Brillses, who live in Blaine, have another daughter, Summer, who is a brunette. The red comes from Grandma Rosella.

Celebrating red heads