#innosanto nagara

[thebookishaustin]

2020 Picture Book Update

Images from my Goodreads shelf

Hello fellow readers! I’ve been busy reading for the Magical Readathon (see that post here) but I’ve been fitting in so many wonderful picture books as well! What have you been reading? Here are a few of my favorites from the past two weeks: 

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi (Author) & Ashley Lukashevsky (Illustrator): I have been recommending this book to folks at work left and right. I don’t care how old you are - the message in this board book is incredibly powerful. 

Can I Give You a Squish? by Emily Neilson: Are you ready to start talking about consent early with your kiddos? THIS BOOK IS THE ONE. Neilson lets us follow a little merchild as they go around giving squishes, but quickly learn that not everyone wants a squish - and that’s ok! 

The End of Something Wonderful: A Practical Guide to a Backyard Funeral by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic (Author) & George Ermos (Illustrator): Talking to kids about death can be quite difficult, but this book helps make it a bit easier with a little humor, wonderful artwork, and a how-to guide on grieving for your lost pets. <3 

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce (Author) & Joe Bluhm (Illustrator): I’ve loved this book for a long time! It has a wonderful film adaptation, but the book speaks volumes for itself. It’s witty and so full of life. The power of storytelling takes root with this book as Mr. Morris Lessmore discovers the beauty in each story. 

I read so many other awesome books these past two weeks too but so little time to mention all of them. Definitely check out these awesome authors though. They all have WONDERFUL works for a variety of age groups, too: 

Faith Ringgold

Christian Robinson

Kwame Alexander

Innosanto Nagara

There are so many awesome picture books out there just waiting to be discovered. I would love to hear about your favorite picture books so please reach out to me! You can message me here on Tumblr, on my Instagram, or on Goodreads! Be safe and healthy out there readers. <3

[dog-house-riley]

Innosanto Nagara

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The Wedding Portrait, by Innosanto Nagara

The Wedding Portrait, by Innosanto Nagara

The Wedding Portrait, by Innosanto Nagara Triangle Square, 9781609808020, 36 pp., 2017

What better way to tell tales of radical protest and rebellion than with love as the foundation? Innosanto Nagara offers children an education in necessary defiance in his latest book The Wedding Portrait. Breaching the subject of disobeying authority is not usually characteristic of children’s books. Often,…

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Coming out this fall, "The Wedding Portrait" by Innosanto Nagara uses the story of Nagara's wedding to present crucial ideas of civil disobedience and direct action that will speak to young readers' sense of right and wrong.

[everybook]

A is for Activist caught my eye immediately when it came in. This one isn’t new, but it looks like they finally raised the money to do a big printing so it’s now hitting mainstream shelves. 

The art is stunning. It’s colorful and bold and there is a lot to look at without being overwhelming. There’s a black cat on every page for kids to find (he’s pointed out at C, obviously) and there are images not directly related to the text for another opportunity for visual literacy. I’m into it. Innosanto Nagara is obviously really talented and passionate about his work. If you go to his website you can read about the process of raising his kiddo and seeing a gap, creating the book for themselves and then printing it for everyone to address the need. 

My only issue comes from the age level of the book. Board books are normaly 0-3 years and the website even mentions this age. There are exceptions to every rule and any time a child can spend on a parent’s lap is well spent. I just really wish it was a picture book instead. Board books really limit the age of the audience, and most kids 0-3 aren’t ready for this type of text yet. This is a goldmine for discussion with your kiddo and growing for your adult (I had to google multiple things, sometimes not finding answers). The board book form means in a lot of cases, you’re sitting a baby down for an amount of attention they are unequipped to give yet. Board books generally have really simple concepts that babies/toddlers can identify, such as simple faces, animals, body parts, colors. Alphabet board books are really at the tippy top of what’s appropriate for those ages. If it were a picture book, it would go all the way up to age 8, which is a much more developmentally appropriate age for young minds wrapping around these fundamentally huge topics. 

Inserted disclaimer here: when I say ‘appropriate’ I mean ‘developmentally appropriate’ not censorship appropriate. Parents get to decide what they do and do not want their kids to experience. If you have an issue with revolutions or breast-feeding or civil protests, this probably isn’t the book for you anyway. But just as you wouldn’t sit a toddler down and expect them to know how to tie their shoes with enough practice, you can’t expect a baby or toddler to sit for a lengthy book that is above their comprehension. 

I come from this entire viewpoint because I work in a public library doing outreach and storytimes. No matter how much I’d like to use this with a group that I think could benefit from the discussion, I can’t because of its format. It’s limited and I wish it wasn’t. Maybe I’m an old curmudgeon and I just can’t get past the packaging. I’m willing to bet it’s really rewarding to sit down one-on-one and read this and I bet the format makes it last way longer. But art this beautiful should be bigger so everyone can see.  

[weneeddiversebooks]

Author Innosanto Nagara reads “A is for Activist” a picture book reflective progressive times.

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Omg this book!

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Tom Morello reads A IS FOR ACTIVIST, written & illustrated by Innosanto Nagara

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello gives a beautiful reading of Innosanto Nagara’s A IS FOR ACTIVIST, the board book for the children of the 99%