A new children’s colouring and activity book celebrating natural hair, confidence, and identity is empowering young readers to love who they are — and it was created by two young entrepreneurs from Montreal’s South Shore.
Kyra Milan Brown, 13, and her sister Kali Brown, 9, co-CEOs of kids’ hair accessory brand Koily Kurls, are the creators behind “Koily Kurls Presents: My Natural Hair Adventure A Colouring And Activity Book.” Designed for children ages four to 12, the book puts representation, self-love, and pride front and centre.
The sisters say the idea came from noticing how rarely children with natural hair see themselves reflected in everyday books.
“We started our colouring book because we wanted to inspire young kids that look like us with natural curly hair to love themselves and their natural hair,” Kyra said.
Rather than offering only images to colour, the book invites children to actively engage with how they view themselves.
“In the book, we have a bunch of pictures of little girls wearing their natural hair proudly and hairstyles that they can colour,” Kyra said. “We also have a lot of activities teaching kids to embrace the natural hair and love it, like saying affirmations about your hair and stuff that you love about yourself.”
For Kyra and Kali, seeing themselves reflected in books and media has always mattered.
“I think it’s really important to be able to see yourself in every day in TV, in colouring books, at school,” Kyra said. “It’s really just important to like see yourself kind of for that motivation.”
The colouring book builds on the sisters’ first publication, an interactive hair book that blends hairstyles with digital learning. This time, the focus shifted toward creativity and expression.
Kyra says the process was hands-on from start to finish, with strong family involvement.
“With the help of our mom, we designed the book and all the images inside of all the girls and all the like activity pages and the word searches and all that stuff,” she said. “So it’s kind of a team idea, like a group idea.”
As conversations around self-image continue to grow, the sisters hope the book encourages children to feel proud of who they are — especially at a young age.
“We really just want people to embrace and love themselves just the way they are,” Kyra said. “We want other little kids and little girls that look like us to love themselves as well and feel proud to wear their natural curly hair outside and feel proud to just embrace them and be who they are.”
That sense of confidence, she says, was shaped early at home.
“Ever since I was young, my mom always taught me to style my natural hair and how to wash it and take care of my curls, and same thing for my sister,” Kyra said. “I want other little girls to be taught the same way.”
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While created for children, the book has found an audience well beyond its intended age range.
“I’m 13, and I love colouring the little characters in the book, it’s really fun. Even adults can use it,” Kyra said.
She says the response from families has been deeply meaningful.
“It just makes me super proud to know that a lot of people are purchasing our book because they love the idea,” Kyra said.
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For Kali, the book carries a simple but powerful message.
“I feel that what makes the book special is that you embrace your natural self and that you’re showing that you like to you yourself just the way you are,” she said.
Beyond the book, Koily Kurls continues to grow as a youth-led brand. For Kali, the experience is about more than entrepreneurship.
“I like working with my sister because we get to share a bond and spend more time with each other,” she said. “This is like our own personal bonding.”
With plans to expand their product offerings, including future hair-care products, the sisters say they are focused on long-term impact.
“Koily curls are always growing, we always have new ideas,” Kyra said. “We want to be a business known all over Canada to little kids that look like us.”
For Kyra and Kali, the message behind everything they do remains the same.
“No matter what age you are, you can start at any age as long as you believe in yourself and you put in the work,” Kyra said.
