Sulwe By Lupita Nyong'o and Illustrated by Vashti Harrison

From Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o comes a powerful, moving picture book about colourism, self-esteem and learning that true beauty comes from within.

Sulwe's skin is the colour of midnight. She's darker than everyone in her family, and everyone at school.

All she wants is to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister.

Then a magical journey through the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.

In this stunning debut picture book, Lupita Nyong'o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty.

We love it because

The book is a welcome celebration of Black girls, an important lesson for all kids (and grownups), and a necessary message for any child who has been made to feel unworthy of love on account of their looks

About the publisher / Author / Illustrator

Author

Lupita Nyong'o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress and writer. She is known from films such as Queen of Katwe, Black Panther, and Us. For her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, Nyong'o became the first African actress who is also Black to win an Oscar. Her children's book Sulwe was a New York Times bestseller, won the NAACP Image Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and even received its own Netflix episode in the series Bookmarks.

Illustrator

Vashti Harrison earned her MFA in Film/Video from CalArts and BA from the University of Virginia. Her experimental films and documentaries have shown around the world at film festivals. After a brief stint in television as a production coordinator, she is now a freelance graphic designer and a picture-book illustrator. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, USA.