Counting On Community

Counting on Community is Innosanto Nagara's follow-up to his hit ABC book, A is for Activist. Counting up from one stuffed piñata to ten hefty hens--and always counting on each other--children are encouraged to recognize the value of their community, the joys inherent in healthy eco-friendly activities, and the agency they posses to make change. A broad and inspiring vision of diversity is told through stories in words and pictures. And of course, there is a duck to find on every page!

"This fun, friendly text introduces counting techniques in the child's world through friendly text, colorful photography, and Sesame Street Muppets. That's a Fact! features throughout present nonfiction facts to help engage continued learning"--

One of NPR's Top 100 Book for Young Readers “Reading it is almost like reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but for two-year olds—full of pictures and rhymes and a little cat to find on every page that will delight the curious toddler and parents alike.”—Occupy Wall Street A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. The alliteration, rhyming, and vibrant illustrations make the book exciting for children, while the issues it brings up resonate with their parents' values of community, equality, and justice. This engaging little book carries huge messages as it inspires hope for the future, and calls children to action while teaching them a love for books.

7-year-old Innosanto spends an exciting night with his mom sleeping under the stars in the Jakarta Planetarium. Innosanto's father is a playwright and the boy memorizes lines during the actors' rehearsals, so they invite him to join the performance, which tours the country. The play is about a General, who doesn't treat people very well, "so they decided to do a play about how that was wrong." Fact: Indonesia aka The Spice Islands is the place Christopher Columbus was looking for when he crashed in the New World. Fact: Indonesia is made up of 17000 islands where people speak over 750 different languages. Fact: when Inno was a child, speaking out against the government could land you in jail. On the last night of the performace Inno packs a toothbrush ("they figured if you're going to go to jail for a long time, you may as well have your toothbrush with you so you can keep your teeth clean. (true story)."), the curtains go down, and with soldiers on the way, the actors scatter into hiding. On its surface, My Night in the Planetarium is a modern Indonesian children's story about one night in the late '70s that the author got to spend in the Jakarta planetarium. But it's actually much more than that. It's an introduction to the history and culture of Indonesia. It's about colonialism, revolution, how power corrupts, and how through art and solidarity liberation can be won.

1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “doffers” on their mothers’ looms in the mill. Grace’s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she’s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace’s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace’s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family’s future.

A boy and his dog present amusing counting, size comparison, and mathematical facts.

A breathtakingly simple poem of universal experience shows us the transformative power of collective action. "Together offers a vision of the world we want for our children, one in which all living things flourish, our communities thrive, and justice prevails.” --Ibram X. Kendi, author of Antiracist Baby In Together, social justice kids book pioneer Innosanto Nagara teams up with poet and activist Mona Damluji for a stunningly tender and pitch-perfect visual feast that juxtaposes individual action with the power of people acting together. Each of the ten free-verse couplets in the poem is spread across four pages of imagery, to make a unique and different kind of board book for young kids to discover with their families. The first illustrated book in which Nagara applies his extraordinary visual imagination to words not his own, Together is simplicity itself--a poem about the transformational change that happens when people stop acting alone and start doing things together. Together is Nagara's third board book, following the immensely popular social justice board books A is for Activist and Counting on Community.

A new book by the author of A is for Activist is a rhyming, boldly illustrated vision of a better world. When you go to a march And raise your sign high You'll make people smile who thought you were shy And you'll make people wonder, does that kid really know why? You DO know of course That's why you are there You're there to say STOP! What's happening's not fair Then they say, we know what you're against End poverty stop war... But okay then what are you for? Oh! What are we for! That's my favorite question And I'm sure it's yours too Because you pay attention You have so many answers And so many options And so many solutions that you want to impart The only hard question is where does one start? Oh, The Things We're For! is a celebration of the better world that is not only possible, but is here today if we choose it. Today's kids are well aware of the many challenges that they face in a world they are inheriting, from climate change to police violence, crowded classrooms to healthcare. Poetically written and beautifully illustrated in Innosanto Nagara's (A is for Activist) signature style, this book offers a vision of where we could go--and a future worth fighting for. Oh, the Things We're For! is a book for kids, and for the young at heart of all ages.