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.

Before I launch into my review, I would like to say a huge thank you to Disha Mathur, Buddoo Books, and Netgalley for the Advanced Digital Reader Copy of this title. For anyone with their eye on this title, here is my personal review of the book to help you decide whether you are interested or not. All opinions offered are my own.

I enjoyed this book and found it delivered everything it promised. Most of the illustrations are vibrant, but more than aything, the brightness and darkness of the images reflect Maya's mood and times of both joy, and reflection. The book examines self-identity through complexion really well and there are cultural elements at play that highlights a family of Asian origin.

I liked that the story portrayed a typical view of colorism/racial bias with several people warming Maya to stay out of the sun, people with her best interest at heart but probably speaking as a reflection of their own experiences and historical perception. I also liked how this view was quickly countered once Maya's mother was aware of the confusion and sadness was feeling.

I would recommend this story to parents of all young children that are interested in broaching the topic of race and skin color. It is a particularly good book for children from non-'White' ethnicities who need to feel empowered and celebrate their heritage or understand from a childish perspetives that people come in all shades. There is also a helpful section in the back that provides questions for reflection as well as suncare advice.

Overall, the story was beautifully constructed, very well illustrated, and had an additional educational summary. For these reasons and the points referenced above, I consider this book to be a 5 out of 5.

Maya loves the sun. She loves how it feels to spend time in the sun and all the things she can do. When someone comments that she's getting too dark, she feels bad. Happily, she processes her feelings and learns that it's wonderful to be herself. In the end, she is happy and back in the sun. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this adorable picture book

Wow! This book not only highlights the beauty of nature but also addresses an essential topic—skin colour.

As a mother to a biracial child, I find it crucial to teach my daughter the importance of self-love, embracing her culture, and taking pride in her identity. At the same time, I want her to appreciate the wonders of nature—the sun, stars, moon, and our planet. This book beautifully weaves these lessons together, making it a wonderful way to teach children about self-acceptance and their connection to the world around them.

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

Maya loves the sun, it makes her feel happy, but when her aunty and sister tell her she’s getting too dark on her skin, her spirit and happiness fade away. Then one day the sun speaks to her and helps her reignite her happiness and love she once had.

This was utterly beautiful what a stunning story of how to love yourself no matter what others say. How to continue doing something you love even when others around you tell you to stop. Her spirit was diminished in such a short time, that she became a whole different person, but she found a way to bring her spirit back and help others brighten theirs too.

I really did find this book beautiful, the illustrations were gorgeous too, seeing Maya having so much fun with her friends in the sun, the difference between her and her sister who stays inside all day, seeing her spirit change so quickly, to the beautiful sun calling her back and her birthday scene. I really loved the way all the illustrations were captured in this book.

A wonderful story that I very much recommend, it will teach so much to its younger readers about self love, about enjoy what they enjoy and to not let others comments or opinions win over their own spirit.

MAYA LOVES THE SUN is a beautiful story about feeling confident and loving your skin! Growing up as a kid who spent a lot of her time outdoors, and getting my skin darkened for being out in the sun for too long, I found this story relatable.

Disha Mathur's story is enriching and has a powerful message delivered gently. It's a wonderful read to see how Maya starts questioning the thing she loves - being out in the sun, with her friends, and how she, along with her Ma's help and the SUN, comes back to being a confident child, who loves herself as she is and brings in her family and friends to experience the same joy too.

Felishia Henditirto's illustrations are GORGEOUS, colourful and powerful! They make the text expressive and engaging!

An important story about colourism, self-love and not giving up on things which bring you joy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super cute children's book with a very important message. Puerto Rican's come in all shades of color, my father is very dark and my mother very like. As such, I came out somewhere in the middle, but I remember a time when my grandmother was afraid of me being too dark. I get very dark every summer and I love it. I am lucky that my mother is also very supportive and never gave em the negative connotations that come with getting darker. I enjoyed this message, especially for children to learn it early.

I also really enjoyed the illustrations and use of colors.