Red hair called rare-Michigan twins featured in book about their hair color
2009-11-08 Source：southbendtribune
MARSHALL, Mich. - Being a redhead can be a reason for teasin' for some kids, but it is being hailed as an uncommonly beautiful trait in a book called "Little Redheads Across America," featuring twins from Calhoun County's Convis Township, Mich. The 88-page book features photos and descriptions of 400 children, each presented on pages for each state in the United States. It also includes fun facts about redheads, such as that it is a recessive gene and the rarest hair color in the world. The 4-year-old twins, Payton and Cooper Otto, appear on page 43 in their Halloween costumes: Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. "The year before that, they were Raggedy Ann and Andy, because of their red hair," said the twins' mom, Mindy Otto, who runs a Web site, www.just4twins.com. That Web site is part of the reason the book's author, Nicole Giladi, contacted Otto. "Nicole contacted our twins group to see if there were any redheads in our group," Otto said. "We sent pictures in. They were only 18 months old at the time." According to Giladi, only about 2 percent to 4 percent of the U.S. population has red hair in any form, from the lightest strawberry blond to the darkest auburn. Other countries with the highest population of redheads include Scotland with 14 percent, and Ireland and Wales with 10 percent each. Otto said her twins have received lots of positive attention for their copper locks. "Since they've been born, they've gotten stopped more because of their hair than because of the fact that there's two of them," Otto said. The book also dispels myths, such as that redheads would become extinct by the year 2060, which Giladi says is not true because even if every redhead in the world stopped reproducing, the red hair gene would live on through non-redheads who carry it. Giladi would know, since she and her husband, both brunettes, got a pleasant surprise when one of their twins came out with red hair. "I assumed he would be born with brown hair," Giladi said of Sammy, born in 2004. "He came out with a bright copper head of hair. His sister (Hannah) has brown hair." Giladi, 39, was surprised again when she found very little reading material about the uniqueness of redheads, so she decided to write her own book featuring all kinds of beautiful red-haired children. She received more than 3,500 photo submissions, which she solicited by contacting twins' groups and children's photographers across the country. "I thought it was really important that kids know both parents are responsible for your blessed, beautiful head of hair," Giladi said. She started her own publishing company, Red Head Publishing, LLC. The book is available exclusively from her Web site, www.littleredheadsacrossamerica.com. (Edit:Ruby) |
