'Sulwe' Is Lupita Nyong'o's Debut Picture Book Inspiring Children to Love the Skin They're In

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'Sulwe' Is Lupita Nyong'o's Debut Picture Book Inspiring Children to Love the Skin They're In
Photo via Lupita Nyong'o's Twitter page.

Lupita Nyong'o will be publishing Sulwe—her first picture book for children later this year.


Sulwe is what her publisher Simon & Schuster calls a moving book tackling colorism, self-esteem and learning that true, unique beauty comes from within.

Here's the plot below:

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.

"I wrote Sulwe to encourage children (and everyone really!) to love the skin they are in and see the beauty that radiates from within," Nyong'o explains on Instagram.

We love and are totally here for this children's book debut contributing to the increased representation of black women in publishing creating more and more work that young black girls can reference to shine a light on the gems that they are.

Sulwe was illustrated by Vashti Harrison, an artist and filmmaker who hails from Virginia. The book will be available Oct. 1 and is available for pre-order here.

​Photo illustration by Kaushik Kalidindi, Okayplayer.
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