Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o is no stranger to using her public platform to share and discuss issues that matter. She has consistently campaigned for more diverse female role models and standards of beauty. She is now taking these principles to literature as she prepares to pen her first children’s book.
Per The New York Times, Nyong’o aims to teach young readers about the importance of self-love. “Sulwe,” which means “star” in Nyong’o’s native language, Luo, follows a young Kenyan girl who wants to lighten her dark complexion. Along the way, she learns that beauty is not a specific standard, but is instead all-encompassing and much more than a physical construct. The book, which will be published through Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, will target readers between five and seven years old.
The picture book’s inspiration stems from Nyong’o’s own journey from self-consciousness to acceptance. At a 2014 Essence event, she expressed just how big a role representation plays in one’s adolescent development. Addressing a young fan, she said, “I hope that my presence on your screens and in magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel validation of your external beauty, but also, get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside.”
“Sulwe” is expected to be released next January. You can catch Nyong’o as Maz Kanata in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” She’ll also star as Nakia in Ryan Coogler’s much-anticipated “Black Panther,” which hits theaters February 16.
