It's not like redheads need any more attention. After all, hair the color of flames or pumpkins tends to stick out in a crowd.
But a pair of Fargo kids are getting some adding fanfare, as they're among the redheaded children featured in a new book, "Little Redheads Across America."
Easton Kitzman, 2, and Katelyn Kanuch, 3 (she'll be 4 in August), represent the Peace Garden State in Nicole Giladi's book, which is only available through her Web site,
www.littleredheadsacrossamerica.com
.
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The book celebrates the hair color by chronicling redheaded kids from each state and mixing in facts about redheads - like, there are more left-handed redheads than any other hair color - and dispelling some common myths - such as the idea that bees are attracted to redheads.
Giladi, who has a redheaded son, says sharing facts like these is a way for people, and some redheads, to understand what it's like living with the striking head of hair. She started thinking about doing the book after realizing how much more attention her son received than his twin sister.
"It was like he's a little celebrity," says Giladi, who lives in California. "They'd want to touch (his head) for good luck."
Though he's a bit too young to fully understand it, Easton Kitzman can relate.
The 2-year-old's mother, Annie, says her son can't go anywhere without attracting people to his hair.
"He gets touched a lot. Everywhere you go, whether it's in an elevator or in Kmart, and they always want to know where his hair comes from," says Annie Kitzman, who doesn't share the hair color with her son.
And one thing Giladi's book does is point out where the red hair comes from.
"The best thing about the book that I learned ... is knowing that the red hair gene comes from both sides of the family," says Jessica Kanuch, mother of Katelyn.
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She's also a redhead, and long assumed it was her side of the family that gave Katelyn red hair.
But as Giladi points out, red hair is a recessive gene trait, meaning a parent can carry it without expressing the characteristic.
When both parents carry the gene, there's a greater chance of their child having a recessive trait, like red hair.
Aside from a quick DNA lesson, the book also explains why many redheads have freckles and looks at the various shades of red hair.
Jessica Kanuch says the book helps explain the "fun" side of being a redhead. She, and Katelyn, liked the book so much they recently had Katelyn take a copy of it to her school's show and tell session.
"We love it," Annie Kitzman says of the book. "We have it on display in our house. (Easton) flips through the book and finds himself."
Readers can reach Forum Features Editor Robert Morast at (701) 241-5518
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