Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.
Foreword from Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o.
Lupita Nyong’o uses her debut picture book to address themes of belonging, beauty, and worth. The protagonist of the book, Sulwe, is born into a fair-skinned family and she tries everything within her might to erase the darkness in her skin to no avail. Her fair-skinned sister makes more friends at school and gets most of the attention, which often leaves Sulwe feeling worthless.
She makes a prayer that leads her onto an adventure on a star. On this adventure, she is told the story of Day and Night, two sisters whose diverging complexions were meant to be appreciated separately. Day, however, was preferred more than the darker sister Night, leading her to run away. People later realized that having Day for extended periods wore them out. In a search for her sister, the narrative reveals the worth and importance each sister carries with their different complexions.
Sulwe returns from this trance with a newfound confidence in her worth, purpose, and complexion.
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Reading Lupita’s debut children’s book made me wish I had grown up with more of these in the 90s. Unfortunately, I grew up knowing that all princesses were white, and Happy Ever After stories were for white princesses and white princes the likes of Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast.
I am glad that more authors of color are venturing into children’s books to bring to light the complexities of colorism as well as worth and belonging. Kudos to these authors!
If you have a child, I recommend this book as a good bedtime story/ bonding time with your child.
You can purchase a copy of the book using my Amazon Affiliate link from which I’ll earn a commission to keep purchasing and reading more books.
Happy reading.