MAYA LOVES THE SUN

In Mathur’s picture book, a young girl encounters colorism for the first time and learns to embrace her skin’s hue.

Maya, who has brown skin, loves everything about summer. From dawn to dusk, she spends every day playing outside with her friends, soaking up the sun. That is, until Neela Aunty warns her that she should “stay fair.” Maya’s sister says that she “would cry” if her skin became as dark as Maya’s is. Maya begins to stay indoors, asking herself, “Is it wrong to get darker?” and “Why isn’t the sun our friend?” After a conversation with her mother, and with the sun itself, she learns to embrace her skin tone. As her mother says, “we’re beautiful on sunny days, snowy days, and all days in between.” Mathur delivers a simple but effective way to start a conversation with children about colorism, with an effective, positive message. Henditirto’s painterly full-color illustrations do a fantastic job of bringing the story to life on full-page spreads that are often warm and inviting, reminiscent of a pleasant summer afternoon in the outdoors. Maya and her family are portrayed with a range of skin tones and appear to be of South Asian descent. (A “Sun Safety Guide” is also included.)

An enjoyable way to introduce a complex concept to very young readers.