Sunflower Sisters

Best friends Amrita and Kiki are both preparing for family weddings. As Amrita’s family arrive at her home to kick off celebrations, she is exposed to old-fashioned attitudes to skin tone from older relatives. Her aunties suggest avoiding certain food and even applying creams to prevent darker skin.

Confused, Amrita looks to her mum for guidance. Thankfully, Mum refutes the ridiculous claims, affirms her daughter’s beauty and celebrates her dark skin. She encourages Amrita to wear a yellow dress, though the aunties disapprove (yellow is thought to emphasise darker skin). Mum says Amrita looks like a beautiful sunflower, standing tall and radiant.

Kiki is at a wedding the same day as well. At the end, the girls unite and twirl together, vowing to always make each other feel like sunflowers.

Sunflower Sisters pays tribute to cultural traditions and celebrations, combined with empowering conversations that address outdated views of beauty. The book gently explores colourism (also known as shadeism) and how harmful unkind words and old fashioned views can be. All the while, it sendsa clear message about the importance of self-love – especially within Asian and African communities.

With vibrant, breathtaking illustrations, this book is beautiful to look at, as well as powerful to read.