Sulwe

by Lupita Nyong'o, Vashti Harrison (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Stunning illustrations and sweeping text combine to form a brilliant and uplifting story about identity and individuality.

A New York Times bestseller!
Featured in its own episode in the Netflix original show Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices!
Recipient of a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
Recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children’s Literary Work

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

Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in 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.

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534425361
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in the film 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, Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking box office hit Black Panther, and most recently in Jordan’s 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.

Vashti Harrison, author and illustrator of the bestselling Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, is an artist, author, and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. She earned her MFA in film and video from California Institute of the Arts, where she snuck into animation and illustration classes to learn from Disney and DreamWorks legends. There she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love for both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories for children.

Editorial Reviews

*"By turns beguiling (as when Sulwe’s mother counsels her tearful daughter) and magical (a shooting star darts into Sulwe’s room to share the story of Night and Day), the volume also clearly conveys that colorism is real, and it hurts. Sulwe’s story confronts it head-on, with words and images that celebrate the 'dark and beautiful, bright and strong.'"

starred review Publishers Weekly

"A thoughtfully layered text and powerful illustrations address this sensitive topic [of colorism] in a uniquely nurturing way."

starred review Kirkus Reviews

"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."

Booklist

"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."

Booklist

★ 2019-08-04
With the help of a legend about Day and Night, a dark-skinned black child learns that she is beautiful inside and out.

Sulwe is "the color of midnight," the darkest in her multihued family, and is teased in school. She tries everything to lighten her skin: an eraser, makeup, eating light foods, prayer. Her mother tells her she is beautiful and that her name, Sulwe, or "star," refers to an inner brightness, but she can't see it in herself. Then a shooting star comes to her window, sent by the night, and brings Sulwe out to tell her about Night and Day, two sisters who loved each other but were treated differently. When Night left after people called her names like "scary," "bad," and "ugly," the people realized that they needed her. The stars added that "some light can only be seen in the dark." After learning how Night and Day are both needed, Sulwe knows that she is "dark and beautiful, bright and strong." Harrison's glossy illustrations faithfully render the features of black people, allowing the beauty of different skin tones to shine, with deep purple tones in the darkness, reinforcing the story's message. In an author's note, Nyong'o shares her own past struggles with her complexion.

A thoughtfully layered text and powerful illustrations address this sensitive topic in a uniquely nurturing way. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews

Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o beautifully presents her fictional story. Young Sulwe is the darkest member of her family. Listeners sympathize as she tries to erase her darkness and prays to God to make her skin fairer. Nyong’o’s delivery of Sulwe’s sweet, youthful voice and her mother’s comforting tone are flawless. After Sulwe has a dream about dark and light sisters—Night and Day—she realizes that both are necessary and that what’s inside a person is more important than skin color. Sound effects such as African drums and original music by Justin Ellington enrich the story. At the conclusion, a delightful group of youngsters reads the audiobook credits. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

MAY 2021 - AudioFile

Academy Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o beautifully presents her fictional story. Young Sulwe is the darkest member of her family. Listeners sympathize as she tries to erase her darkness and prays to God to make her skin fairer. Nyong’o’s delivery of Sulwe’s sweet, youthful voice and her mother’s comforting tone are flawless. After Sulwe has a dream about dark and light sisters—Night and Day—she realizes that both are necessary and that what’s inside a person is more important than skin color. Sound effects such as African drums and original music by Justin Ellington enrich the story. At the conclusion, a delightful group of youngsters reads the audiobook credits. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

MAY 2021 - AudioFile