By Megan Schwindler
Lupita Nyong’o, the Academy Award-winning actress, is currently writing her debut children’s book,
Sulwe. According to The New York Times, the picture book is aimed for readers between the ages of 5 and 7, and tells the story of a young Kenyan girl who struggles with accepting her dark skin. During the story, Sulwe embarks on a “whimsical adventure” and receives advice from her mother, which in the end, helps her see the beauty in herself.
Times reports, “Like Sulwe, Ms. Nyong’o struggled with her complexion and self-image as a child. Growing up, she remembers becoming more aware of herself in grade school and caring about the opinions of others. It was around that time that she also 
noticed the language people outside of her family used to describe her “brown and pretty,” lighter skinned sister.” This narrative is one we see again in Nyong’o’s 2014 speech, where she spoke of her struggle to find self-love. This changed, however when model Alex Wek was celebrated for her beauty. Nyong’o said, “… when I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty.” The power of representation is further shown in her closing statement, where she hopes that women, “feel the validation of [their] external beauty, but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside.” This speech resonated with viewers and quickly went viral, which persuaded Nyong’o to write a book for a younger audience. While she recognizes that her high-profile name has garnered a lot of attention and love, she ultimately wants the book to “help all children reimagine what it means to be beautiful.”
Why does this matter? Diverse books allow children to see themselves represented in positive ways in the stories they read (or are read to). This cultivates confidence, high self-esteem, and a sense of pride in who they are. It’s also important that children have access to stories with characters that do not look like themselves. Stories that speak of loving oneself and being strong have been on the rise in the past year, making room for a few great Feminist children’s books. This list includes, She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, Princesses Wear Pants? and Rosie Revere, Engineer, among others.
Sulwe will be published in January 2019 through Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.