My loves to feel the warm sun on her skin. Her favorite times are time spent outside. However, members of her family warn her to stay out of the sun and be careful as her skin gets darker. This makes maya not feel beautiful in her body and wonder why is being darker so bad. It takes her mom to tell her that ALL skin colors are beautiful, not just light or dark and that the world needs to work to change their views on colorism.

A sensitive and empowering story about confidence, self-love and the beauty of brown skin, Maya Loves The Sun will resonate with every Indian Girl, and probably every girl who is a person of colour.

Maya is truly looking forward to celebrating her birthday in the park. But some disheartening and discouraging comments from close family members make her want to hide from the activity that once brought her so much joy. I can relate to this book so much! I have been on the receiving end of such comments and the obsession with fair skin tone is unreal. Me and my twins, a boy and a girl, we say down to discuss this book and took away the idea that while we will do everything in our power to keep our skin healthy, we won't be obsessing about its tone. Or someone else's skin for that matter! I highly relatable book, especially for kids from the Indian cultural background.

As a brown-skinned girl who’s often been warned by well-meaning Neela aunties to stay out of the sun to avoid darkening my skin, I was immediately drawn to Maya Loves the Sun by Disha Mathur. The story speaks directly to the ingrained cultural belief that darker skin is something to be avoided, despite the fact that the sun is a natural part of our world. This book tackles that harmful mindset beautifully and thoughtfully, making it a powerful tool in dismantling colorism, especially for younger audiences.

Maya Loves the Sun follows Maya, a young girl who is discouraged from playing outside in the sun, fearing that it will darken her skin. As a result, she begins to lose her sparkle and joy. But through the gentle wisdom of her mother, Maya learns that true beauty comes from within and that we are beautiful in every season of life. The core message here is simple yet profound: the sun is meant to be enjoyed by all, regardless of the shade of our skin, and color should never limit how fully we live.
What makes this book even more special is how it teaches children (and adults!) about colorism while celebrating the natural beauty of brown skin. Maya’s rediscovery of the sunlight and the way it sparkles on her skin is a lovely metaphor for reclaiming one’s self-confidence and joy. Maya also leads her younger sister, Rani, to embrace the beauty of their skin under the sun, reinforcing the importance of passing on these empowering lessons.
Disha Mathur also does an excellent job of weaving in important terms like “colorism” and “sun safety,” making this a fun and informative read for young readers. The book manages to be both educational and inspiring, making it a perfect choice for parents and educators looking to encourage self-love and inclusion while raising awareness about skin health.
Overall, Maya Loves the Sun is a heartwarming story that offers a much-needed message about embracing who you are, the skin you're in, and the sun that was meant for everyone. It’s a must-read for any child, particularly brown-skinned girls, who need to hear that their beauty is radiant no matter what shade they are.

Thanks to NetGalley and Budhoo Books for this fun read! Highly recommend!

Maya Loves the Sun might just be one of the best children’s books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I absolutely loved this story, and it brought tears to my eyes. The characters, especially Maya, were wonderfully written, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the overall tone of the story. The section of the book where the Sun is talking to Maya was so beautiful.

Maya Loves The Sun, written by Disha Mathur and beautifully illustrated by Felishia Henditirto, is an uplifting book perfect for children in key stage 1 (5-7 years old). It features a character Maya, who is on her journey to accept and love the beautiful brown skin that she is in, in a society that appreciates light skin. Maya Loves The Sun tackles the important topic of colourism and teaches us how to combat this by loving our skin.

This is a beautiful book with even more beautiful illustrations. This is a must-read for all kids. Colourism pretty much plagues all cultures/countries and hence this book will help children embrace and love themself irrespective of the shade of their skin. It is also a must read for adults as it shows how a careless remark may cause a child to shrivel up and lose their sparkle.

I am totally in love with the illustrations and enjoyed the points on how to stay safe in the sun.

Thank you so much to Buddoo Books and Netgalley for the book.

This story shares a powerful message about embracing yourself and embracing your love of nature. The young girl in this story loves to play outside, and she loves the sunshine. However, after an adult encourages her to stay out of the sun so that her skin won't get darker, she feels insecure and no longer feels the same freedom outside. In the end, she works through this and comes to an appreciation of herself and her skin color, and knows that colorism is wrong.

This book shares a powerful message without being overly preachy, and it is a good reminder for adults of the impact their careless words can have on children. The author's note at the end reflects on her own experience with this, and also includes tips for sun safety.

What a sweet story!! The artwork is absolutely STUNNING, I can picture myself reading this to my children in the summer!

This story feels so warm and comforting! Experiencing colorism has been a recurring challenge for me, even to this day, so seeing this issue portrayed in such a thoughtful way really resonated with me. This book does a great job of conveying the importance of self-love and confidence in a way that feels genuine and impactful. Plus, the illustrations are absolutely stunning! The vibrant colors and adorable font add so much charm. I also appreciate the extra section on sun safety, which is a great touch for kids. This is definitely a book worth picking up!

Colorism & Sun Safety

I appreciated that this book addressed what could be intentional and unintentional colorism.

The illustrations capture the highs and lows of this story to perfection.

This book would make a great conversation starter about being safe in the sun and loving any color it enhances.

I received a copy of this book from Disha Mathur and Buddoo Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles. I have elected to leave a review. All opinions are my own.

This is the story of shadism and how it is present in Maya's small world. The message is hurtful and then positive as her mother intervenes.

This is a beautiful story, that I believe every child/adult should read. For those having a dark shade, there must have been at least one point of time in their childhood where they were insecure of their skin. From where I come from children are often warned not to play too much in the sun for the fear of becoming dark, hence I am able to relate to this a lot.

This is a gem of a book! I love how the author shows how a careless remark, regardless of the intend, may dampen the spirit of a child and how from the love and guidance of an person enables the child to regain their spirit.

The illustrations are beautiful and enhances the story. I love how the author encourages the readers to embrace their shade, what ever it may be.

I loved the tiny note on colorism and ways to stay safe from the sun.

Thank you so much to Buddoo Books and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

The loveliest book about disrupting the harmful narratives we’re told as children (and even adults)! Maya embraces the sun and all her summertime activities, but it’s the passive aggressive comments from the world around her that makes her question what she once loved. Mathur shares this tale in a simple but poignant way, allowing the reader to see the pure joy when there is instead acceptance, hope, and an ache for change. The illustrations were breathtaking, and completely drew me into the world of the story; one could directly see the warmth and benevolence of the sun, and the beauty in nature and in all the skin tones. The resolution about spreading this story’s positive message was powerful, and one of my favorite parts of the book was the author’s note at the end. Mathur shares her own experience with colorism and motivation for writing this book, while empowering everyone (young and old) to embrace who they are and dispel the lies of colorism. Another important note at the end is sun safety, which is an essential reminder for loving your skin under the sun!

This book was lovely and had beautiful illustrations. It brought up the important topic of colourism, and would be a great conversation starter with kids.

As a person who welcomes the sun as if it's a warm embrace but was often warned about looking darker, I wish I had this book growing up. Maya Loves the Sun is a great little story about a girl who loves the sun. but gets told from those around her that being in the sun would make her darker and implied that it would be a negative thing. I absolutely love that it was Maya's mother who told her that people come in different shades and it's OK to be darker than others, and why others may believe it to be a negative thing. I thought the sisterly moment at the end was very cute as well. The illustrations in this was well done, and I even liked the tips at the end as to how to enjoy the sun responsibly.

Overall, I would recommend.

Thank you so much to Buddoo Books and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

This beautiful picture book shares an important message about self-love and confidence, helping kids understand colorism in a simple and thoughtful way.

With bright, colorful illustrations, “Maya Loves The Sun” is a heartfelt story about embracing yourself. It’s a great way to start conversations about self-acceptance and the beauty of all skin tones. I especially liked the section at the end that talks about colorism and sun safety.

My 7-year-old nephew recently asked about skin color, and this book has a great section that can help answer his questions.

A huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read this advance copy!

This book appears to be for younger children and does seem developmentally appropriate for the age group. Firstly, I thought the illustrations were stunning! The vibrant colors, the complementary colors of the clothing to skin tone, the colorful cultural elements - I was drawn to them all! The contrast of a more greyed out world when Maya wasn’t playing in the sun was a nice touch. Secondly, I appreciated the messaging around colorism, the encouragement by the mom to challenge others’ beliefs about her skin (toward self-love regardless of meeting society’s standards), and the sun’s conversation with Maya. What really stood out about the sun conversation was its focus on Maya’s autonomy and ability to think first about how things make her feel rather than focusing on how others think and feel about what she does. I liked the modeling of prioritizing one’s own internal thoughts and beliefs over the ‘concern’ of others. I wish the mother would have addressed the aunty directly about her colorist comments rather than only addressing it privately with Maya. I think the redirection of the aunty’s attention was insufficient in addressing the child’s emotional needs and need for protection against harmful beliefs. Lastly, the reflection and education about suncare was surprising and welcomed! I wish more books gave such helpful information. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, the representation, the artistic elements, and the relatability for young children of color.

Going to be honest, I checked out this book due to the artwork because it looked amazing and I love the artwork in children's books but the story was amazing as well. It handles a hard topic in a beautiful way and is extremely uplifting. I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends with children.

Disha, you created such a beautiful children’s a book. My four kids and I absolutely cherished this book. It was adorable. The pictures were wonderful, and the concept of the story was so sweet! Thank you for a wonderful book.

Netgalley ARC - Wow this is really good, the illustration is magical and the way light is drawn makes me feel warm inside. Important message and a very valuable resource as a kids introduction to this difficult topic of colorism.