Girl learns her dark skin is beautiful in lyrical book

 

Sulwe

Written by Lupita Nyong’o and illustrated by Vashti Harrison

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019

“Sulwe” is a story about a little girl whose skin is very dark. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school.

Her sister Mich has light-colored skin. People at school call her Sunshine, Ray, and Beauty. At school, Sulwe is called Blackie, Darky, and Night.

Sulwe feels hurt by the nicknames. She hides away while her sister makes many friends.

She dreams about having light skin like her sister and making friends, too.

She tries to rub off her darkness with an eraser, but only hurt herself. Then she tries lightening her skin with her mother’s makeup. She knows she’ll get in big trouble from Mama.

Then she eats only the lightest, brightest foods, but only gets a stomachache.

She goes to bed and prays for a miracle. When her mother comes in to wake her, she looks in the mirror. She still looks the same.    

She tells her mother about her worries. Mama tells her that her name means star. Brightness isn’t in her skin, but it is what she is.

She tells Sulwe that she is beautiful.  Real beauty comes from your mind and your heart, she says. It begins with how you see yourself.

Sulwe worries all day about what her mother has said, but that night she has a visit from a shooting star. The star invites her to come along. She hops on the star and flies out the window.

The star tells her a story about the sisters Night and Day at the beginning of time. People mistreat Night so she goes away. When there is no Night, Day grows too long and everyone misses Night.

Day goes off to find Night. She finds her and tells her she misses her. Night says she also misses Day, but she doesn’t like being treated so badly for being dark. Day tells her that everyone needs her just the way she is.

Night returns and everyone rejoices. “We need the darkest night to get the deepest rest. We need you so that we can grow and dream and keep our secrets to ourselves.”

Day tells her sister that she is most beautiful when she is darkest.

Now that Day and Night are back together, a little bit of Night returns to Day in shadows. And a little bit of Day returns to Night in moonlight.

The star tells Sulwe, “You see, we need them both. Together they make the world we know, light and dark, strong and beautiful.”

Sulwe rises the next morning, beaming. She tells her mother she belongs in the world, dark and beautiful, bright and strong.

This moving story teaches children to see their own beauty.

About the Author

Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in “12 Years a Slave,” for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as multiple accolades, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, the Independent Spirit Award, and the NAACP Award. She has since starred in Mira Nair’s “Queen of Katwe,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Rya Coogler’s record-breaking box office hit “Black Panther,” and most recently in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed horror film “Us.” Nyong’o earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Danai Gurira’s play “Eclipsed.” She lives in Brooklyn.

About the Illustrator

Vashti Harrison is the author-illustrator of the “New York Times” best-selling book “Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History,” which is also an NAACP Image Award winner. She earned her BA from the University of Virginia with a double major in media studies and studio art and received her MFA in film and video from CalArts, where she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love of both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories of children.